A Brother I Didn't Know
by lonie b
Summary: Two brothers separated when their parents die but what happens when they meet again? What if one of the brothers wasn't completely human? how would it look if you throw magic into the mess? Well, in the great words of Percy Jackson the answer to that last question would be 'bad'. AU I do not own either series.
1. Chapter 1

"Get him out of here. He can't know about him." A woman shoved a bundle of blankets into the arms of the man.

"What about you and the other one? I can't leave the two of you." The man replied.

"You have to. If he finds both of them he'll kill both of them and I can't protect them both." The woman had tears in her eyes and the man seemed close to them as well.

"Then I'll take both of them."

"It won't work. He'll just hunt them down until he finds them and kill them then. They'll never be safe."

"But he'll kill you to get to him and he'll be dead too. Had that even occurred to you?" she gave the man a sad smile.

"He may kill me but I will save my son. Both of them." The determination in her emerald eyes was undeniable. The man just hung his head in defeat before kissing the woman goodbye and disappeared. Just then the door to the nursery was blown off its hinges. Standing there was a figure in a dark cloak.

"Move aside." The figure said.

"No."

"You need not die. Just the boy must."

"No just kill me not my son. Please not my son."

"Very well." There was a flash of green light and the woman fell to the floor. The figure then turned to the toddler that was in the crib and in another flash of green light, intended to kill the boy like it did his mother, something happened and the figure vanished. All that was left alive in the room was the crying toddler that now had a lightening shaped scar on his forehead.

The next day that boy's only living relatives opened their front door to find their nephew on the doorstep.

Meanwhile, in a hospital in New York a mother was crying over the dead body of her infant son that had barely lived a year. A man approached her from behind and when the woman looked up she was met with the familiar face of her child's father.

"He's gone." She whispered to him.

"I know." The man whispered back and hugged her with one arm. It was then that she noticed he had something in his other arm. She looked at him quizzically. "You're not the only woman I have fallen in love with recently." He told her gently. "But she is incapable to care for a child now. The ancient laws forbid me from taking care of the child myself. I know you just lost our child but would you like to raise this one?" The woman looked at the child in her lovers arms and saw a face so much like her own child's.

"Yes." She replied and she took the sleeping child into her own arms. Still depressed about her own loss but she also found a new hope. She could still raise a child even if it wasn't hers. She has a new son now. "Thank you, Poseidon."

"You're welcome, Sally." And then he left.

_**Two months earlier.**_

_My dearest friend,_

_As you know I have a son but what you probably don't know is that I actually have two. They're twins. The younger one we named after James, but I think you know that. The older one I named after you. You are, after all, my best friend. Nothing could change that. That's why I want you to be his godfather. James doesn't like that idea though. He still doesn't like you. So I will understand if you don't wish to accept my offer. Either way, I know James would never let you see him, so here's a picture of him. It's enchanted so that the picture will still show you what he looks like as he gets older. I only ask you to never tell anyone else about him. My other son is already in danger. I can't stand the thought of losing both of them to the Dark Lord. Please do that for me._

_Sincerely,_

_Your friend, Lily_

The man to whom the letter was addressed set it down, a slight smile played on his lips as he looked at the picture of a baby boy with black hair and greens eyes laughing. Along the bottom of the picture was a name in the same writing as the letter: _Johnathan Severus Potter_.


	2. Chapter 2

"What are you up to, Severus?" the voice didn't surprise the man it addressed.

"What's makes you think I'm up to anything?" Severus asked the other that spoke to him.

"I've known you for a while now, Severus. I know." That man that first spoke was none other than the Headmaster of a school. Not just any school, but Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"You know what's going to happen now that Sirius has escaped." The potions master told the Headmaster.

"Harry will be safe so long as he remains at the Dursley's." Albus Dumbledore assured him. Then the Headmaster noticed what was on Professor Snape's desk: a letter, a picture, and the ingredients to a locator potion. Dumbledore picked up the picture and gazed at it for a moment before he did the same to the letter. When he was done he placed both back onto the desk. "I was unaware that the Potters had another son." He said to the man making the potion. "I assume that he is the one you are worried about, then." The potions master said nothing in return, only continued to make the potion that will help him find his godson. "Has it occurred to you that Sirius might not know about the second son?"

"He was their most trusted friend. Why would they have kept this from him?" Professor Snape snapped back.

"I see your point. But if that is the case he might think that the boy is dead. Looking for him could put the boy in danger if Sirius finds out he is alive."

"Unless he already knows, then the boy would be left without protection." Severus finished putting all the ingredients together. "Unfortunately it will take a week before the potion is ready to be used to locate the boy."

"Whatever your reasons for not locating the boy before now, I hope you know _why_ you're it doing now of all times. I'm sure he will get quite the shock when you do find him. That is, if he can do magic."

"Why wouldn't he be able to use magic?"

"Will you be bringing him here then for the school year?" the Headmaster ignored the question.

"Yes."

"I will look forward to meeting him." Then Dumbledore left.

The Professor was left to dwell in his thoughts. He didn't know why he had never tried locating his godson before. He didn't even know why he was doing it now. Yes, he had considered that locating him could put him in danger. But the thought that something could happen to him has been growing stronger over the years. The only reason he could actually come up with to justify his actions over the years was to protect Lily and her sons. But with Lily gone, all he could do now is protect her sons.

**One week later**

Harry, as Snape had just found out, was now staying at the Leaky Cauldron for the remainder of the summer. The Potions master made his way to his office from Dumbledore's. On his desk sat the locator potion, finally ready for use. He pulled the picture out of a drawer in his desk where he placed it a week ago. Then he dipped the photo into the potion for a few seconds and pulled in back out. On the back of the picture an address appeared.

"Now how did you get there, Johnathan?" Severus whispered to himself and he left to inform Dumbledore that he was leaving.

**New York**

The streets were busy with people rushing to get places and the sidewalks clogged with pedestrians. Horns blared and people shouted. Just your typical day in Manhattan. In an alley way next to an apartment building Severus disapparated. He immerged from the alley to regard the building in front of him. It wasn't the nicest apartment complex but it was nicer than some of the other ones in the area. Inside near the door sat a man at a desk. He didn't seem like a threat but Severus still approached with caution. The man looked up as he came closer.

"What can I help you with, sir?" he asked with a smile.

"I'm looking for this boy." Snape answered him, holding up the picture of Johnathan.

"Oh, little Percy Jackson. His mother, Sally, moved here a few weeks ago and he just got back from a summer camp I believe." He answered before he started looking concerned. "Why you looking for him? He isn't in trouble with the law is he?"

"No, this is about his family." Severus told him in a tone that left no room for questions or arguing. "If you could be so kind as to tell me which apartment they are in..."

"How can I be sure you're not some psycho that wants to hurt the kid?" muggles, so annoying.

"You don't."

"Fair enough. Fourth floor, number 12." He finally conceded the information. "I'll let them know they have someone coming up. Anything happens to the boy, I'm calling the cops. Just a warning."

"Consider me warned." Then he left the man at the desk and headed towards the stairs. Four floors up was his godson who won't even know who he is. Or what he is. But that was soon to change. A few minutes later he stood outside door number 12 on the fourth floor. Not long after he knocked the door opened.

Before the professor stood a young 13 year old boy with messy jet black hair, a bright smile, and the greenest eyes. He looked exactly like he did in the picture. When the young boy saw who was at the door his smile disappeared and he got a confused look on his face.

"Is it Halloween already?" he asked Severus, who just raise an eyebrow at the child.

"Percy, who is it?" a woman called from inside the apartment. The smell of food wafted into the hall.

"Uh…" the boy, Percy as they know him, said unsure and a beautiful lady appeared in the doorway behind him. The woman had dark brown hair that had a few streaks of gray despite her young age and she also had green eyes close to the color of the boy's. If the Professor didn't know any better he himself would have believed the two were related.

"Really Percy? I doubt his name is Uh." She said as she gently pushed the boy back inside. "Now go set the table. So what can I help you with?"

"I am Professor Snape and I teach at a school in Scotland. I'm also an old friend of your son's mother." Severus said. "His real mother." At that the color drained from her face. She took a ragged breathe.

"You're going to take him away, aren't you?" she asked but the tone she used made it sound like she already knew the answer.

"Not yet." He answered. "Might I come in and talk with Percy?" she just nodded mutely and stepped aside to let him in and closed the door before leading him to the kitchen. In the doorway stood 'Percy' and from the look on his face, one could tell he overheard what was said.

"Percy?" the woman tried to say.

"You're not my mom?" he asked her with a hint of betrayal in his eyes.

"I'll give the two of you a moment." Severus told them and left to sit in the living room. Looking around he could tell that Sally and Johnathan were close. On a mantle were several pictures of the two of them together. One they were in front of a Christmas tree, Johnathan looked to be about four. Another showed the two of them at a beach with a sand castle between them, Johnathan was six or seven. In another it was just of the boy at age three at the beach sitting in the sand and hugging a crab. That one enticed a smile from the man. Next to that was a more recent picture of his godson with a curly haired boy and a blonde girl, they were all wearing an orange shirt and in the background was what looked like cabins. The man at the desk downstairs had said he just got back from a summer camp.

After about thirty minutes Johnathan entered the living room and stood across from the professor. The two regarded each other. The boy's expression was guarded.

"Explain." The boy finally spoke.

"What do you know about witches and wizards?" the man asked.

"They're fairy tales." Johnathan rolled his eyes. "What about them? No wait, let me guess. You're a wizard." Instead of giving a verbal response the potions master pulled out his wand. Muttering a spell he pointed it at one of the pictures on the mantle; that picture then floated over into Johnathan's hands. He stared at it a minute before he looked back up. "Doesn't prove anything. You could have rigged something up while my mom and I talked." _His mom_ that statement caught the teacher's attention. So Johnathan wasn't about to stop loving the woman that raised him. That kind of loyalty would serve him well in Hufflepuff.

"You think so?" Snape asked perplexed.

"I have some friends from summer camp that are pranksters and they could rig up some pretty impressive stuff so a floating picture isn't all that farfetched." Prankster friends, maybe he could get along with the Weasley twins as well.

"Perhaps a different approach." Severus said before holding his wand out to the boy. "You mother was a witch, so it stands to reason that you have magic as well, so the wand will work for you."

"And if it doesn't?" came the skeptic question.

"Then I am in serious need of mental help." The man remembered first meeting the boy's mother and what she had told him the first time he had tried to tell her about magic. She believed him after he showed her that he was like her. Johnathan seemed to think it over.

"What if I don't have magic? Then what?" he challenged the professor.

"Tell me, has anything ever happened to you that you couldn't explain. Some strange phenomenon that occurs whenever you're angry or scared." After a minute of thought he hesitantly took the wand in his left hand. It was then that Severus noticed that Johnathan's right hand was in a bandage.

"So what do I do?" Johnathan asked as he examined the wand.

"Try giving it a wave." And he did, across the room the china cabinet exploded. We both just gaped at it in shock. Yes I had expected something to happen but not for something to blow up. Mrs. Jackson is not going to like this. As expect the woman appeared in the room.

"What is going on in here?" she asked, and then seemed to notice the remains of her china cabinet. Sally crossed her arms and gave the two of us a stern look and Severus felt like he was back in McGonagall's class. "I'll ask again: what is going on in here?"

"Um…..magic." Johnathan answered, smiling sheepishly.


	3. Chapter 3

"So just to make sure I got all of this, you're a wizard, and Percy's mother is a witch." Sally said, Severus nodded. "And Percy can do magic too." Another nod. "So you want him to go to England to learn how to use that magic, but there is also an escaped murderer on the loose who you think is going to go to this school to take care of some unfinished business, whatever that might be."

It was a few hours after the wand incident and Severus had explained to both Sally and Johnathan about the wizarding world and the school he taught at. They both took it rather well. Well, Johnathan believed him after he blew up the china cabinet. Sally took a bit of convincing to let Severus repair it but when it was restored to what it was before she also believed him.

"That is correct." He said. The woman nodded and the professor could tell that she didn't want the boy she raised to go somewhere where danger lurked.

"Percy, it's your choice." She told the boy sitting next to her. "Do you want to go to this school?"

"I don't know," Johnathan answered before turning to me. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course."

"But…" the boy paused, "Could you tell me…who is my mother? Why…why isn't she here?" his voice shook as if he were afraid to know the answer.

"Your mother was a wonderful woman and my only friend." Snape told him hesitantly. "We grew up in the same neighborhood but her family were muggles whereas only my father was a muggle. Her name was Lily Evens and she was without a doubt the brightest witch of our age. She was the nicest person in my life. Don't let that fool you; her temper could make dragons look tame."

"'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'" Johnathan said and chuckled as did Sally. I couldn't help but smile.

"Since when have you known any Shakespeare quotes?" Sally asked him.

"Since I met Annabeth." He replied.

"And who is Annabeth?" Severus asked him and the boy blushed.

"A friend from camp."

"So, anyways…" Professor Snape said to spare the boy. "She married a pureblood named James Potter whom also went to school with us."

"So my last name is Potter? Can I just stick with Jackson? Potter just seems like ammo for bullies to use to against me." The two adults gave him pointed looks. "Continue."

"About twenty three years ago a Dark wizard started to terrorize the wizarding community and killing muggles and muggleborns. War broke out and we had to attend school while that was going on. Most Slytherins also agreed with this dark wizard's point of view and joined him."

"Did you join him too or fight against him?" Sea green eyes bore into his soul.

"I joined him as well and that is the worse decision I have ever made." Regret colored the older male's voice. Neither of the rooms other occupants said anything so the man continued with his story. "About ten years after the war started a prophecy was given saying that a child born at the end of July will be the downfall of the dark wizard. At that time there were only two children that were born at the end of July. The first is a boy named Neville Longbottom. The other, who the dark wizard went after is Harry Potter… your twin brother." Johnathan's jaw dropped in shock. "Both families went into hiding. The night the dark wizard went after him he killed both James and Lily and tried to do the same to your brother but the spell backfired and almost no one knows where the dark wizard went or whether he is truly defeated. A few of us know he has tried twice now to come back but so far he has been thwarted." The little Potter's jaw still hung open and it was hard to tell if he was actually paying attention anymore. Sally seemed to notice as well since she waved her hand in front of his face. The boy didn't respond in any way.

"Percy?" she said sounding worried. 'Percy' blinked a few times.

"I have a twin brother?!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't you say anything before? Is he alright? Is he going to the school you teach at? Does he know about me?"

"Slow down, Percy and he'll answer." Sally said with a slight smile.

"Sorry." He said before turning back to Snape, his eyes pleading.

"I wasn't sure you would believe me. He'll be in his third year at school. No, Harry doesn't know about you." Severus said softly. "As far as I know only five people knew you existed when your parents were alive: your parents themselves, James's two best friends, and myself."

"Wait so the prophecy speaks of someone born at the end of July, but you also said only two were born but if me and my brother are twins then wouldn't that make it three?" Johnathan asked.

"Nobody else knew you existed, so, the people who knew about the prophecy who didn't know about you as well believed there were only the two boys that the prophecy could apply to."

"But you sided with the bad guy that went after my family, why didn't you tell him about me?" the older man pulled a piece of parchment out from a pocket on his robes and handed it to the boy. The latter unfolded it and read. It took him a while and the professor observed that the more time the boy spent reading it the more frustrated he got. When he finally finished he looked back up at the professor. "So you're my godfather?"

"Yes." Snape answered.

"Why did you wait until now to come find me? Or better yet, why come find me at all?" asked Johnathan. "Wouldn't I have been safer if my existence remained a secret if this dark wizard guy is trying to come back or whatever?"

"Yes it would have been safer but unfortunately the man who betrayed your parents and gave the dark lord the location of where they were hiding is the same man that has escaped from Azkaban and is on his way to our school of magic. His name is Sirius Black and he was James's best friend and one of the few people who know about you."

"And you're thinking that he wants to finish the job and eliminate any threat to the guy that killed my parents, right?" Professor Snape said nothing, which was an answer in itself. "Meaning Harry and myself and you want us both in the same place. The same place he's heading for. How does that make sense?"

"This school is one of the safest places, second to only Gringotts bank. But I doubt you would like to spend an indefinite amount of time locked in a vault waiting for Black to be caught."

"Yeah that's only slightly worse than school." the boy nodded. "At least you get more space to walk around at a school than in a bank vault." Silence fell around all three of them. After a few minutes Johnathan spoke again, "What if blowing up the cabinet was a fluke and I have no magical skills?"

"It wasn't Percy." Sally spoke up, smiling softly at the boy. "You'll do fine. Besides your being a wizard does explain why your hair was always changing color when you were little and how you made things levitate." Johnathan looked at her in surprise.

"Really?"

"It stopped after Gabe… but your hair would always turn the brightest shade of blue whenever you were excited and dark red when you got angry, which was rare back then." She sighed. "You should go. Go learn something new. I have a feeling the classes will be much more entertaining than math and English."

"Ok, I'll go, plus this might be my only chance to meet my brother as depressing as that is."

"Very well, I'll be back for you tomorrow." Snape stood up.

"What's my full name? The letter said I was named after you. I forgot to ask about that earlier." The man's godson asked.

"Johnathan Severus Potter." The man smiled. "You also forgot to ask what the name of the school was. You'll be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Laughter filled the room and Johnathan doubled over as though in pain.

"What kind of name is Hogwarts?" he managed to say in between his fits of laughter. "Is the sister school called Pipplelypigs?"

"Don't hurt yourself laughing, Per– Johnathan." Sally said as she stood up before escorting the Professor to the door. "You said first term doesn't start until September first and that's still a few weeks. Will he be staying with you, or..?"

"I have things I need to finish up before the school year but I can arrange for him to stay with a wizarding family until then." She nodded. "He can come stay with you in the summer if he wants to and if it's safe by then."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Until tomorrow, Ms. Jackson." He told her and left the apartment.

**Merry Christmas everyone! Or Happy Holidays for those of you who don't celebrate Christmas.**


	4. Chapter 4

**ATTENTION MATT! You do not tell people to go kill themselves just because you don't like their fanfiction. If you don't like it DON'T READ IT ANYMORE! I will not take down my story just because you don't like it either because out of the reviews I have gotten so far you're the only one that up front hates it. You have no idea what I'm going to do with my story so shut it! Go screw yourself and have a sucky life.**

**Sorry for the rest of my readers for having to read that but I couldn't send this dush a pm to tell him that in privet. And thank you for those who also don't like my story for not being such asses like this guy was. For future reference to reviewers: flames are accepted but if you're as rude about it as this Matt kid you'll get the same thing that happened above. Happy reading everyone. ~ lonie b**

After another quick conversation with the door man to assure him that no harm will come to 'Percy' and that he will only be going to a school in the UK, the Potions Master apparated to the home of the Longbottoms. Neville was unfortunate enough to be the one to open the door.

"P-p-profess-sor Sn-nape," the shy Gryffindor stuttered. "Wh-what are y-you do-oing here?"

"Is your Grandmother home?" the professor asked the scared boy, who simply nodded. "Might I speak with her?" With another nod, the boy let Severus through the door and led him to a living room where an older woman sat drinking tea and reading _the Daily Prophet_.

"Grandmother," Neville called to the woman who looked up from her reading. "P-professor Snape's here to t-talk to you." She nodded.

"You can leave us." She told the boy who nodded once more before scampering away. "I assume this isn't a social visit, Professor Snape."

"No, I have come to ask if you would be willing to house a new student until the start of school." Snape told her, to which she raised an eyebrow.

"Why would this student be needing housing?" Augusta Longbottom asked.

"He's from America." That got a surprised look from the old woman.

"An exchange student? I didn't know Hogwarts accepted those." She looked skeptical now.

"We don't. We also don't usually accept new students in higher years with no previous magical schooling." Severus informed her. "But considering the circumstances which the boy is in Dumbledore has made an exception."

"Higher years? How old is this boy?"

"Thirteen, same age as Neville."

The woman thought for a few minutes while drinking her tea. After a while she spoke.

"Tomorrow we will be going to Diagon Alley to get Neville his things for school. We'll meet you in front of Gringotts with the boy."

"I'll see you then." And the man disappeared from the manor.

**The Leaky Cauldron around the same time**

"How come no one has told me this before?" a young boy with glasses demanded of the old man sitting across from him.

"Very few people were aware of this bit of information. In fact, I myself had just been informed of it just a week ago." The old man replied.

"But why is this information just coming out now?" the young boy asked distressed.

"All things are revealed with time. No one knows why things are revealed at the time that they are. The important thing in this case is that it was even revealed at all."

"How did you find out about it?"

"A letter your mother wrote twelve years ago. I guess you could say it was lost in the war."

The boy thought about it for a few minutes. "Professor, will he be coming to Hogwarts?"

"Indeed he will, Harry. Professor Snape was kind enough to go and collect him." Professor Dumbledore answered.

"Snape!" Harry Potter exclaimed. "Why'd you let him go?"

"Your brother will be at Hogwarts this year, why does it matter who brings him?"

"It –" Harry sighed. "It doesn't but I still don't trust Snape." The old headmaster chuckled.

"I assure you that your brother is in good hands." Silence filled the room after those words.

"What's he like? My Brother I mean." The young Potter finally asked.

"I'm sure you can ask Johnathan himself that when you see him." Dumbledore stood. "If those are all your questions, I must be going. I'll be seeing you at school." with a pop the man disappeared from the room.

**Harry's PoV.**

After a moment's hesitation I ran to the desk in his room and scribbled two messages down on some parchment. When I was done I called my owl down from her perch on top of the wardrobe.

"Take these to Ron and Hermione, Hedwig." I told the snowy owl as I tied the letters to her leg. She hooted before flying out the open window and disappeared from sight. Then, I was left alone to reflect on what Dumbledore had just told me. I have a brother, and he was going to be at Hogwarts. I couldn't wait to fill in my friends on all the details.

Late that night Hedwig came back and dropped my friend's replies in my lap. Both said they would be coming to Diagon Alley in the morning. Even after reading my friends' replies I still couldn't sleep. Thoughts of my brother plagued my mind. What would he be like? Would he even know any magic? Does he even know about magic? Will he accept me as his brother? Is Snape even going to tell him he has a brother, or that I'm his brother?

The answer to that last one was almost obvious; no, Snape wouldn't tell him I'm his brother because he hates me. Anger boiled in my veins at that thought. It's one thing to hate me but if Snape took out his anger on my brother when he has done nothing, I would make his life miserable this year. With that reassuring thought I was finally able to fall asleep.

When I woke up sunlight was streaming in through the window. I lay there for a few minutes letting my eyes adjust to the sunlight. As I reached for my glasses I felt the letters I received from my friends last night and remembered suddenly why I had written to them. I grabbed my glasses and jumped out of bed. As soon as I was dressed I ran from my room and raced down to the main part of the Leaky Cauldron. Ron and his family were sitting around one of the tables. The twins were the first to notice my arrival.

"Hi, Harry." They both greeted me.

"Harry!" Ron jumped up from where he was seated. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Hey, Ron. Fred. George." I returned their greeting. "I'll tell you when Hermione gets here, Ron." Before he could protest someone pulled me into a hug.

"So nice to see you again, Harry dear." Mrs. Weasley said when she released me.

"Good to see you too, Mrs. Weasley." I smiled at her. "Mr. Weasley."

"Harry." He replied as we shook hands.

"So how was Egypt?" I asked them. Ron and the twins launched into a tale of how their summer went and how cool Egypt was and how their brother Bill was doing. After about an hour or so Hermione and he parents walked in. When she saw us she ran to where we were.

"Harry, is everything alright? Your letter sounded urgent." She said as she gave me a hug. "Ron." She nodded at him.

"Hermione."

"Come on." I said and they both followed me up to my room. I locked the door behind us.

"What is it Harry?" Ron asked looking less worried than Hermione.

"Dumbledore visited me yesterday and told me something crazy." They both looked at me expectantly. "Apparently, I have a brother." They stood there gaping at me for a few minutes. "Look I know that it's crazy and impossible."

"Do you?" Ron asked in disbelief. "If you had a brother don't you think someone would have said something before now?"

"Ronald, I'm sure Harry has thought of that." Hermione scolded him.

"Dumbledore had said that very few people even knew he existed. He also told me that the reason he knows about my brother now is because of a letter my mother wrote but got lost in the war that finally made it to him."

"So I'm guessing since this information never came forward that the few people that knew were your parents." Hermione said softly.

"It seems so." I murmured as I sat down on the bed.

"This could be some Death Eater's plot. Or even You Know Who himself could be behind this." Ron suggested not-so-helpfully. Hermione glared at him.

"Everything is a Death Eater's plot to you." She told him. "And there is no proof that He is behind this either. Dumbledore would have checked before tell Harry about this supposed brother."

"Well even so, you have to admit this is strange, Hermione." He replied. "A mysterious letter, supposedly written by Harry's mum just shows up out of the blue after she's been dead for twelve years, tells of a brother no one knew about. The two people who knew for sure if Harry had a brother or not are dead. If there is in fact a brother, where was he the night Harry's parents were killed? Why didn't he come to Hogwarts when he was eleven like the rest of us?"

"I don't know." Our bookworm friend admitted. "Maybe he was in a different place when it happened. Perhaps he went to a different wizarding school or he may even be a squib."

"Please don't say he's a squib." I told her. "I don't know if I could handle it if my brother can't do magic."

"Sorry, but it could be a possibility." she said lightly as if not wanting to upset me anymore than I already was. "Assuming that you do have a brother, did Dumbledore tell you a name?"

"Johnathan." I told them. "His name is Johnathan. Dumbledore also said he would be coming to Hogwarts this year."

**Even after he READ HIS frieNDS r EPLI Es HE still Couldn 't Sleep. Thoughts of his brot````````````````her plagued his mind. What would he be like? WOULD HZE EVEN KNOW QQAQ any ma`1 `````````````````g````````````````ic ?**

**What you just read in bold above is a small piece of what happened when I tried to type a part of this chapter while I was babysitting a little two year old. It just amused me so much I had to keep a bit of it on here.**


	5. Chapter 5

**MATT: Apology accepted. I do understand the need to vent but there are still some things that you shouldn't say when writing (I guess in this case it's typing) because it is difficult to tell when someone is venting, being sarcastic, or being serious on a piece of paper. Think before you type. It's not that hard. Think of what could happen if you told someone with very low self-esteem to 'kill themselves'. They could have gone and done it. Try to be more careful with your venting in the future. Please.**

**Percy's PoV.**

As soon as Professor Snape left I stopped laughing. My mom came and sat back down next to me. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry I lied to you. If it means anything to you I was going to tell you when we were at the beach but I lost my nerve that first night. Then Grover showed up and I had to get you to camp. I just hadn't found the right way to tell you when you came back home." She said softly. "I didn't know you had a brother. Your father never told me about your family. He only told me your mother was no longer able to care for you." I looked at her and gave her a hug.

"I still love you. You may not be my real mother but you will always be my mom." I told her. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know, sweetheart." Mom said as she wrapped her arms around me, carding her fingers through my hair. "But I have no legal say. I never legally adopted you. Severus has more claim to you than I do. He could have just come and taken you."

"He is taking me; to the UK to go to a school and he might not let me come live with you again after that guy is caught."

"He did tell me that you could come stay with me in the summer if it's safe." She informed me.

"And I'll be at camp most, if not all, of that time." I grumbled. "I wouldn't get to see you much."

"At least you will be able to go back to camp. That's what is important."

"You're important too." I insisted and mom kissed my forehead. Silence fell around the two of us. We just sat there in each other's embrace for a while, not wanting to let go of the other. Yes, the great hero who traveled to the underworld on a suicide mission doesn't want to leave his mother. But I had to leave so I can meet my brother I never knew I had.

My brother. The thought brought a smile to my face. A twin brother. Maybe I can bring him to camp with me in the summer. If he wants to come that is. If not maybe I can teach him during the school year how to use a sword or some other weapon. Teach him about the gods and monsters, even how to ride a pegasus. Then another thought entered my mind: I had to meet him first.

"What if he doesn't like me?" I asked suddenly, panic started to fill me.

"He will like you, Johnathan. It may take him a while to warm up to you, but no one in their right mind could hate you for long." Mom replied. "You're too likeable." That made me smile, then I realized that she called me Johnathan again.

"You can still call me Percy." I told her. "It's weird to hear you call me Johnathan." She laughed.

"Alright, Percy. What do you want to do for our last day together?"

"Sit on the couch and watch movies and eat ice cream, popcorn, and blue cookies." I answered my mom and she laughed and ruffled my hair.

"Okay."

That night when I went to bed I had a smile on my face. I knew I was going to miss spending time with my mom but I also knew I would see her again someday. It wouldn't be for a long while but I knew it in my heart that we would be together again, and I already longed for that day to come. As I lay there waiting for sleep to come, dread for tomorrow crept into my soul and I knew it would be a long night.

When I woke up, sun was streaming through my window. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I rolled out of bed. Sleep decided to avoid me most of the night and when I was able to get to sleep I had horrible dreams. So I wasn't very cheerful this morning. Slowly I made my way to the kitchen where Mom was starting on breakfast.

"Morning, my little sea prince." She greeted me as I walked in.

"Morning," I yawned.

"Breakfast will be done in thirty. You should go get ready for when Severus gets here."

I nodded and went back to my room. Grabbing some clothes I then went to the bathroom to get a shower. When I was done and back in my room I grabbed my suitcase from under my bed and started packing up like I would for boarding school. The only difference is that I added some nectar and ambrosia along with the rest of my first aid kit as well as some drachmas. Just as I was zipping up the suitcase Mom called me saying that breakfast was ready. Sighing, I left my room, pulling my suitcase behind me. Leaving the suitcase in the living room, I reentered the kitchen and sat down as Mom placed a plate of butterscotch biscuits, scrambled eggs, and bacon in front of me.

"I'm going to miss you." She said as she sat down next to me. "My little boy, all grown up and going to magic school."

"Where I'll make a fool of myself because I will be behind everyone else in my year and I only have a basic understanding of the world of magic."

"You made it through camp in relatively one piece. I'm sure you'll be able to handle this. Just remember that if you need anything, you can ask your teachers and classmates."

"'Cause that always works." I muttered and started eating. My mom just sighed and looked at me sadly. When I was just finishing up eating there was a knock on the door and Mom went to open it.

"Hello again, Severus." I heard my mom say.

"Ms. Jackson." Came the reply. "Is he ready?"

"As he'll ever be." the door closed and footsteps approached the kitchen. Mom and Severus appeared in the doorway. I reluctantly stood up and walked towards them, my mom pulled me into a hug. "Stay safe and try to stay out of trouble."

"I'll try, but I can't promise anything more than that." I told her as I hugged her back. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Percy." She said and kissed my forehead before we both pulled apart. With that Severus guided me to the door with my suitcase in tow. Neither of us spoke as we made our way downstairs. At the door, I said goodbye to the door man. It wasn't until we were outside that I spoke to my godfather.

"So how are we going to get to England? I'm not a big fan of flying." He raised an eyebrow at me. "What?"

"If James were alive today, he might have had a heart attack because of what you just said." Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "To him it was a sin to not like flying. Don't worry, we're not flying." He assured me as he led me into the alley next to my apartment building. Looking around to make sure no one was looking, he grabbed hold of my arm with one hand and my suitcase with his other and suddenly everything was spinning and I felt like I was being squeezed through a tube. After a few seconds it went away and we were in a different place.

We had appeared in what looks like a pub. Though it was rather old-fashioned and a bit rundown there was a good turnout of patrons sitting at the tables and bar. Of course, I took in all of that in the second after we appeared because in the next second I was on my knees as a wave of nausea hit. Through will power alone, I just managed to not throw up. However, it did take me a few minutes before I could stand up again. Even then Severus still had to help me to my feet.

"Most people throw up the first time they apparate." He said as I steadied myself.

"Thanks for the warning." I replied when I could speak without fear of hurling. "Where are we?"

"The Leaky Cauldron." Severus answered. "It's the main entrance into Diagon Alley, where you'll get your school supplies."

"Um, I kind of need money for that, which I don't have."

"That's why our first stop is Gringotts bank." My godfather told me before leading me through the pub. He left me by the stairs as he went to talk to the club's owner about keeping my suitcase for the time being. As I waited for him to return three teens about my age came down the stairs. They stopped when they saw me.

"Hello." The female of the group said. She had bushy brown hair and had an air of intelligence that reminded me of Annabeth. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Um, yes." I answered hesitantly. "I'm Percy Jackson."

"Hermione Granger." She said and we shook hands. "These are my friends Ronald Weasley," pointing to the redhead on her left. "And this is Harry Potter." When she pointed to her other friend I was faced by a near mirror image of me. Same messy black hair and we both have green eyes. We also had similar features. The differences between the two of us were that he had glasses, he was a bit more scrawny than I was, and he was paler too. Not quite sure what to say I turned back to the redhead.

"Nice to meet you, Ronald." I said and held my hand out for him to shake.

"Call me Ron." Ron told me as he took the offered hand. I nodded and turned to Harry, offering him my hand as well. He shook it hesitantly, like he was waiting for some sort of reaction from me.

"What school do you attend, Percy?" Hermione asked me.

"I'll be going to Hogwarts. Severus said that I will be going into the third year." They all looked shocked at that.

"You mean Professor Snape?" Harry asked with a hard edge to his voice. I nodded. "Did he tell you anything else?"

"A fair amount. So I take it you all go to Hogwarts as well?" I asked, not wanting to say too much to them. It wasn't the time to tell anyone about who I really am. Not like they would believe me anyway, especially if no one has told my brother about me and I'm pretty sure that he is the raven haired boy in front of me. Figured it'd be best to wait for now.

"Yes, we'll be third years as well." The female of the trio of friends answered.

"What's with the funny accent?"

"Ronald!"

"What?" Ron asked the bushy haired girl that was glaring at him. She just muttered something that sounded like 'no tact' under her breath.

"It's fine, Hermione." I told her. "I'm from New York City, so..."

"Isn't that in America?" Harry interrupted me.

"Yup. One of the rebel colonies that dared to defy King George back in the day." I smirked at them and Hermione rolled her eyes, Harry shook his head with a bit of a smile, while Ron just looked confused.

"Have you seen any of the battlefields?" Hermione asked excitedly. Yup, definitely like Annabeth.

"In fifth grade I went on a field trip to the Saratoga battlefield. That was really cool. Even when I had an accident with one of the cannons and blew up the bus." The three friends gave me incredibly wide eyed looks of shock.

"Wicked." Two voices said behind me. "Even we haven't done anything like that." Turning around, I saw two redheads that looked exactly alike. "Who's your new friend, Ron?"

"Percy Jackson." I introduced myself and shook both of their hands.

"This is Gred." One of them said pointing to the other.

"And that's Forge." The second pointed to the first.

"We're Ron's older brothers." They said together and I had to smile at their names.

"We have another brother,"

"Who is also named Percy."

"He's a git."

"And headboy this year,"

"Which is a terrible thing,"

"Because he has no clue"

"How to have fun." The two brothers took turns speaking, making me grin even more. Here were two people I could get along with.

"That sounds awful. I volunteer to be surrogate brother Percy." I told them and they both grinned at me.

"What do you say, Gred? Should we let him in the family?"

"Well he does show potential to our ways. With a bit of guidance, he could carry on the legacy."

"Very well then."

"Welcome to the family, Mini Marauder." They finished saying together. Just then Severus walked up behind them.

"Mini Marauder?" He asked coldly and the others all spun toward him in surprise and a bit of fear. "I hope you're not planning on getting him to break the rules while at school. I doubt we need any more trouble makers prancing around foolishly."

"See you later new brother." Gred said followed by a "and you can tell us more about when you blew up that bus," from Forge. They ran off to gods know where leaving the rest of us in a tension filled silence. The other three teens were apparently waiting for my godfather to say something but he just stayed silent and looking at me pointedly, waiting for me to explain. I coughed.

"So first stop Gringotts, you said?" I asked nervously.

"Come." He all but ordered me. Without another word he swept away in the direction of the back of the pub and after waving goodbye to the others I followed after him. I could feel eyes watching me as I left. Looking back I saw Harry looking at me as walked out the back door of the pub and I could see a look of sadness on his face just before the door closed behind me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Percy's PoV.**

When I looked back in front of me I was confused to find that Severus had led me to a dead end. We were in a small brick area with no other exits than the door we came through. There was, however, a trash can in one corner. I was just about to ask if we went through the right door when he pulled out his wand and tapped one of the bricks a few times. For a moment nothing happened and I was thinking that maybe my godfather was crazy, then the wall in front of us started moving. I felt my jaw drop in awe as an archway appeared where the wall once was.

Beyond the opening I could see people bustling about on a cobblestone street, going to and from the different shops lining both sides of the street. The people were dressed in robes like one would expect of wizards, though theirs were all different colors unlike the plain black robes Severus wore today and yesterday. Some people even had funny hats to match their robes. It was several seconds before I noticed that my godfather started walking through the crowds. I jogged to catch up.

"Okay, this place is awesome." I told him as I fell into step beside him. He smiled at me as I continued to look around at everything. And because I was looking everywhere else I wasn't looking where I was going and so I collided with another body and we both tumbled to the ground. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." I apologized to the boy I ran into as I pulled the two of us to our feet.

"I think that sounds about right." The boy said in a voice that clearly stated that he thought he was better than everyone else. As he brushed himself off, two other boys closed ranks behind him. Looking at those two I could tell that they were there more for intimidation purposes than actual friendship. The boy I ran into finally looked up at me and sneered as he took in my appearance. "Who are you? Some muggle that somehow managed to find their way back here, I'd wager. Judging by the worn out clothes must be poor as well."

"Draco, that will be all." Severus told him and he looked up at the professor. "This boy is with me."

"Oh, right then. Are you a muggle-born? Where are your parents?" He asked not any more politely.

"I'm a half-blood and I'm technically an orphan." I answered him with half-truths. "My name is Percy Jackson."

"Technically?" Draco inquired but I didn't elaborate, just waited for him to introduce himself which he didn't do, making it awkward.

"Um, this is the part where you shake my hand and tell me your name." I hinted at him and he glared at me. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. "Dude, it's just a hand. It's not going to bite you."

"Draco Malfoy." He finally told me as he reluctantly shook my hand. It was then that something about his name clicked.

"Drakon or dragon?" They gave me blank looks. "Your name, it has two different translations, one Greek and the other Latin."

"It's Latin. From the school motto, which is: Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus." He said proudly. I was surprised when I could translate the phrase into English almost as easily as I could Greek.

"So you're a sleepy dragon?" Draco looked offended when I said that. "Well the motto says 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon' and you said your name came from that, which makes you the sleeping dragon."

"You know Latin?" The three boys and my godfather looked shocked and impressed.

"A little bit."

"You're smarter than you look, Percy Jackson."

"Thank you, Draco Malfoy."

"Are you heading to Gringotts? A word about the workers; they aren't that fond of wizards."

"Thanks for the heads up." I said and gave him a smile. He nodded to me.

"See you at school, Professor." Severus acknowledged the boy and Draco and his friends left.

"You do well with meeting new people." My godfather told me as we started walking again.

"I've had a bit of practice. Being shy won't get you many friends when you're going into a place where everyone already has their group of friends. Speaking of which, that boy back at the Leaky Cauldron with the black hair and glasses, he said his name was Harry Potter. Am I correct in assuming that was my brother?"

"Yes." He answered.

"Has anyone told him that he has a brother?"

"Dumbledore might have told him but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you." I let that sink in as we went up the steps of a big Grecian style building. Over the doorway I saw the name of the building but my dyslexia mixed up the letters so it took me a bit longer to tell what it said. Finally I was able to make out Gringotts. So this is the bank. Next to the doors was an engraved brass plate which I stopped by to see what it said. After a minute or so of trying to decipher what it said I heard Severus clear his throat. "Are you coming anytime soon?"

"Yeah, I was just...can you tell me what this says?" I lowered my voice for the last part and I couldn't bring myself to look at him.

"It's a warning to thieves, which we are not. Need I remind you that we haven't got all day." He said and I looked up at him to see an unreadable expression on his face. I shook my head and silently followed him into the bank. When I saw who, actually, what the bank employees were I nearly froze in my tracks. My godfather must have noticed my hesitation because he just beckoned me to follow him farther into the room. Well I say room, kind of like how the throne room on Olympus is a room. Though this room is about an eighth of the size of the throne room, if even that big. Severus must have also noticed me staring at the creatures that served as bank employees because he said, "Don't worry, the goblins won't hurt you unless you try and steal something." Cuz that's reassuring.

As we walked down the aisle of desks, goblins stopped what they were doing and stared as we passed. A few even bowed to us. Then I realized something; they weren't bowing to us...they were bowing to me. All of the other wizards in the bank noticed their behavior as well and looked utterly confused by it. Heck, it even confused me. My godfather seems troubled by it as well.

"I'm guessing this isn't normal goblin behavior." I whispered to him as we approached the last desk. He nodded his head but said nothing about it. At the desk in front of us sat a goblin that has yet to notice us. When the goblin looked up he caught sight of me and froze like all the other goblins did.

"We were wondering when you were going to show up, Lord Potter." The goblin said in a respectful voice. "Wait here." Before either Severus or myself could say anything the goblin left. We were both too shocked to say anything to each other. After a minute the goblin returned with another one.

"Which vault will you be withdrawing from today, sir?" the new one asked me, completely ignoring Severus.

"My father's, I guess." Not really knowing what he was talking about for the 'which vault'. The Goblin nodded and beckoned us to follow him and we did.

He led us to a cart on a set of rails that disappeared into a dark tunnel. We got in and the cart shot forward into the darkness. If you have never ridden in a Gringotts cart it's like a rollercoaster that's underground minus the safety features and you're probably going a lot faster than your average rollercoaster too. It was awesome! Sadly, when I asked the goblin guy if it could go any faster he said there was only one speed. Severus gave me a slight glare at that and I noticed, even in the dim light, that he looked a little green. Eventually we came to a waterfall and went straight under it so we got soaked. Instead of the usual burst of strength I get from water, this water sent a cold chill down my spine that had nothing to do with the chill of the water. It felt like magic, not good magic but not bad either. After another few minutes we came to a stop at apparently the end of the line.

I got out of the cart and looked around. All there was were cave walls with traces of water running down them. There was one patch that stood out from the rest of the walls. Engraved on the wall was a trident with sea shell, starfish, and sand dollar embellishments. I had to smile at the fact that my godly father has a vault in a wizard bank. Explains why the goblins respect me, they know that I'm his son. Hm, I wonder if Harry gets treated to same way. I didn't even wait for the goblin or Severus as I approached the wall and put my hand on it.

"Johnathan," Severus warned but whatever he was going to say must have died in his throat as the engravings glowed sea green and the wall melted away to reveal a treasury. There were piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins with all kinds of different precious gems mixed in with them. All manner of jewelry was littered about on any surface that they could stay on. But the best part was the very back wall that was decorated with all sorts of weapons and shields and there were even a few full sets of Greek and Roman armor. I ran straight to the back and started looking at the weapons, forgetting why I even came there in the first place. When I picked up a trident I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking over I saw Severus with a troubled expression as he looked around at everything. "You don't just run into a Gringotts vault and start touching stuff, Johnathan. There could be deadly curses on all this stuff. Besides, it may be a wizarding school you're going to but weapons still aren't allowed."

"Way to ruin all my fun." I grumbled and put the trident back in its place on the wall. He led me away from the weapons back towards the entrance of the vault where a majority of the money was. I picked up one of each different coin I saw, looking at each of the closely as Severus scooped some into a bag. I instantly recognized the golden _drachma, _though it was an older style than the ones I have in my suitcase. One of the silver coins was the same style as the _drachma _but it had Latin inscriptions, must be Roman. The other three I didn't know what they were.

"The gold ones are Galleons, silver Sickles, and bronze Knuts. Twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle and seventeen Sickles to a Galleon." My soon-to-be teacher told me.

"How many Galleons to a _drachma_?" I asked just to see what he said.

"Fifty-seven." our goblin guide answered instead. "Nineteen Galleons to a _denarius, _three _denarii _to a _drachma."_

"Thanks," I told him and smiled.

"My pleasure, my lord." he bowed. I saw Severus shake his head, confusion clear on his face. I was just to suggest that we get going when something else caught my eye. Not just my ADHD caught my eye but a that doesn't fit here. Sticking out from under one of the piles of coins was a piece of wood. When I freed it from the coins I saw it was actually a wand made of a dark wood, about fourteen inches long. Warmth spread through my arm as I gripped it in my left hand and when I gave it a small wave green and blue sparks shot from the end. "It seems you have also found the wand for you."

"I think we're done here," Severus announced and gently, albeit impatiently, led me back to the cart.

Back outside on the steps of Gringotts, I sat twirling my new wand around my fingers. Well I say new because it was to me, the wand was older than it appeared. Most might not be able to tell but it had the same feel to it that Riptide had, the feel of history. The reason I was sitting on the steps is because we were waiting for the wizarding family I was going to be staying with to show up. Since Severus had to get back to Hogwarts to do some more preparations for the school year I also had to do my school supplies shopping the this family as well. Not that I really minded, at least they might be more into casual conversation than my godfather is.

After a few minutes and elderly woman and a round faced boy my age came up to us. Judging from the way he was trying to hide behind the woman I figured he was either really shy or he was scared of Severus or both. I'd bet ten _drachma _that it's both.

"Mrs. Longbottom," Severus greeted the elder lady.

"Is this the boy?" Mrs. Longbottom asked, gesturing to me. I stood up from my spot on the steps and stepped forward.

"Hello, Mrs. Longbottom, it's nice to meet you," I told her as I reached my hand forward for a hand shake which she accepted.

"What would you name be?" she asked evenly and I stared at her shocked for a moment before glaring at my _oh so helpful_ godfather.

"You said you set me up with a wizarding family but you didn't even tell them my name?" I asked him and he glared back.

"I figured you would have liked to introduced yourself." he replied calmly. I rolled my eyes as I turned back to Mrs. Longbottom.

"I'm Percy Jackson." I told her and she smiled slightly.

"Nice to meet you too Percival." she replied.

"It's Perseus, actually. Not Percival."

"Of course, this is my grandson Neville." She nodded and gestured to the boy hiding behind her.

"H-hi," Neville barely managed to get out.

"Hello, Neville." I greeted him and gave him a reassuring smile. He gave me a small smile in return.

"Now that you have met I'll be taking my leave." With that my godfather disappeared with a pop. Good thing he gave me my supplies list, train ticket, and money as we exited the bank, otherwise I'd have forgotten to ask him until after he was already gone.

"So...Where are we heading first?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Harry's PoV.**

I watched as Percy Jackson followed Professor Snape out of the Leaky Cauldron. He must have felt my gaze because he turned back to look at me before the door closed behind him. Even though I could no longer see him I still kept looking at the door he disappeared through. After a few minutes Hermione regained my attention.

"Come on, Harry." She said and she gently pulled me over to where Mr. Weasley was talking with her parents. "Mum. Dad, I'd like you to meet my friends Harry and Ron."

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger." I greeted them while Ron just waved and said 'hello'. We stayed in the Leaky Cauldron for a little while chatting before going into Diagon Alley for school supplies and ice cream. We spent about an hour or so getting our school stuff before going for the ice cream. The three of us sat around a table outside to eat our treats.

"Harry, I hope you aren't letting the whole brother thing go to your head. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment." Hermione told me as I picked at my ice cream.

"Yeah, so what if that Percy guy looked like you. But he must be new to the wizarding world. The guy barely reacted to your name." Ron added before shoving an entire spoonful of ice cream into his mouth.

"But Dumbledore said I have a brother and I trust him. He said that Snape had gone to get him and Percy was with him. Plus, Percy and I look so alike."

"He said he was from New York. How could your brother have gotten there?" Hermione tried reasoning with me.

"I don't know," I said and put my head in my hands. Before either of them could say anything else we heard a familiar voice.

"That's what I said but he told me he was a half-blood." Draco Malfoy came into view with a blonde woman next to him. "I think he might be coming to Hogwarts too."

"It's quite unusual for Hogwarts to accept new students beyond the first year, Draco. Especially from a different country." The woman told him.

"I'm not sure if this guy is the usual student." He replied. That was when he noticed us. "Oh, it's you three. Planning your next stunt to get expelled?" He sneered at us.

"Just go away, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood for this." I grumbled.

"We're getting a new student in our year. Maybe you can be his friend, Potter. After all, you are both orphans." He smirked at me. Ron nearly jumped on the Slytherin. Hermione and I just managed to keep the ginger from hitting the blonde boy. By the time we got Ron to back down Draco's father had appeared next to him.

"What is going on here?" Mr. Malfoy asked coldly.

"Nothing." I told him while Hermione glared at Ron, who was glaring at Draco, who was looking smug.

"I'd wipe that smug look off your face before they let Ron actually hit you, Draco." A voice said from off to the side. I almost smiled when I saw Percy Jackson standing there, Neville stood behind him looking nervous.

"You don't even know what is going on." Draco told him.

"No but I can guess. Let's see, you being an arrogant rich boy insulted one of them who you have deemed lower than you and Ron jumped to defense. Hermione and Harry, not wanting Ron to do anything rash, stopped him from giving you a broken nose." Percy said and smiled at us.

"Arrogant rich boy?" The scandalized look on Draco's face almost made me laugh. "You just met me not three hours ago and you have the nerve to call me that?"

"I notice you're not denying it." Jackson shot back and Draco shut his mouth, no longer looking as smug.

"And who might you be, boy?" Mr. Malfoy asked Percy with disdain.

"Percy Jackson, sir." Despite the hostility coming from the man, Percy stuck out his hand for him to shake. You had to hand to Percy, he did have nerve. "Who might you be?"

"Lucius Malfoy," Lucius told him but didn't shake the offered hand. "What right do you have to insult my son?"

"You know, traditionally, when someone offers you a hand to shake, you shake it and you don't look like a guy that would stray from tradition." Percy said instead of answering. Draco's father glared at him before reluctantly shaking his hand. "See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?"

"Are you going to answer the question or not?" the man demanded.

"Which question would that be? Is it like 'The Question' from _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ or the insulting your son question?"

"Hitchhiker's what?" Ron asked confused, the Malfoys also looked confused.

"It's a book, Ron." Hermione told him, slightly impatient.

"It's actually a trilogy." Percy corrected. "They are some of the few books I have read. The others being _Treasure Island _and _20000 Leagues Under the Sea." _Hermione looked shocked.

"Only five books?"

"I've read others but those are the only ones I got all the way through and still liked when I was done."

"You're a bit off topic, Percy." Neville spoke up from behind Percy.

"That depends on the topic you're referring to." He replied.

"Why you were insulting my son." Lucius clarified.

"He insulted me earlier. Just returning the favor." Before Lucius could say something else to Percy, the boy turned to the blonde woman. "Sorry, ma'am but I didn't get your name." She somewhat smiled.

"Narcissa Malfoy." She told him and they shook hands, though Percy had a thoughtful look.

"After Narcissus." This time Narcissa did smile at him. "Though that does bring up the question of whether you were named after the flower, the constellation, the personality disorder, or the guy himself."

"I was named after the constellation, since it is a family tradition to be named after either a star or constellation, but it can also be argued that I was named after the flower as well. Narcissus wasn't a real person, just a story. I also have no idea what you mean by personality disorder." Mrs. Malfoy told him.

"Narcissism is where you're in love with yourself. The story is about three or four thousand years old so he could have been a real person, for all we know, because it had to come from somewhere." He said and it was hard to argue with that logic.

"I see your point. You are the new student, I take it." Percy nodded in answer. "Any idea what house you're going to be in?"

"I was told of one house, Slytherin, the house that the so called dark lord was in. Severus also told me he was the head of that house. Other than that I don't know what the other houses are."

"So you know about Voldemort?" I asked him. Those around me turned to glare at the mention of the name. I expected a similar reaction from Percy but he surprised me by laughing.

"What kind of name is Moldy shorts?" He managed to gasp out. We all looked at him, shocked that he would actually make fun of the wizard that everyone feared.

"You dare to make fun of the wizard that the whole wizarding community fears? Are you mad?" Draco inquired, a slight hint of fear and something else faintly colored his voice.

"Quite possibly." Percy said with a smile. "But really, I doubt Voldemort is his real name and he wants to be feared. I'm not known for doing what people want me to. Plus, making fun of him is just a way to be spiteful."

"That's a bit dark." Hermione said softly. "What has he done to deserve your spite?"

"He killed my parents and tried to kill my little brother as well." The difference in Percy's attitude took me by surprise. He went from care free to murderous in one second flat. "He doesn't deserve my fear or respect." My friend flinched at his words. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you." He said quietly and she just nodded and he changed the subject. "So the houses..?"

"There are four of them." I told him hesitantly, not wanting him to snap at me. "Ravenclaw, for those who seek knowledge. Hufflepuff, for the loyal. Gryffindor, for the brave and daring. Then Slytherin, for the cunning and ambitious."

"Ravenclaw is most definitely not for me." He said after a moment's thought. "Loyalty is a good quality to have. Some might say that being brave and daring is just the nice way of saying that you tend to do things that are stupid and life threatening. A good survival skill is to be cunning."

"So you're saying that you have no problem with the house of evil?" Ron demanded.

"Just because one is cunning and ambitious doesn't make them evil, Ron." Percy told him, looking him straight in the eye. They had a staring contest for a few minutes before Ron finally looked away. Draco was just about to say something but a yell of "heads" caught our attention. Flying toward us was a quaffle. Looking in the direction that it came from, I saw Ron's twin brothers. Much faster than the rest of us to react, Percy jumped straight up, about three feet off the ground, and snatched the ball out of the air. As he landed he launched the ball back at the two brothers with a smile. It was easy to tell why when I heard an audible 'oof' from George when it nailed him on the stomach. Fred laughed at him.

"Bloody hell." My first friend cried.

"Ronald! Language." Hermione scolded him as the twins made their way over to us.

"Great catch, Percy." Fred said while laughing.

"Good throw too." George added.

"Great?" Draco nearly shouted. "That was amazing. You'd make a bloody good chaser." The boy in front of us went red with embarrassment.

"Thanks, I guess." He mumbled.

"You guess?" I asked him. "You just got an honest compliment from Draco Malfoy, and all you have to say is 'you guess'?"

"You are definitely going to be trying out for the house team if you make it into Gryffindor." The twins told him only for them to receive a blank look. "At least tell us you've heard of Quidditch before."

"I can't say that I have."

"Oh, come on," Draco threw his hands up, "it's only the greatest wizard sport to ever be played."

"Um, how is it played?" Percy asked a bit uncomfortable.

"It's played in the air on broomsticks..." Ron started to explain but he trailed off when the color drained from Percy's face. "What?"

"There is absolutely no way that I am going in the air. The only exception is if the world is going to end if I don't but even then I still might stay on solid ground." The fear in his voice pushed back any thoughts about having him try out for the house team.

"So you're not afraid of Voldemort but you are afraid of heights?" I asked him with a slight smile.

"I am not afraid of heights." He said but most of us just raised an eyebrow at him. "I am not afraid of heights," he repeated, "I'm afraid of flying. There's a difference."

"Right, of course there is." Fred agreed, trying to hide a smirk.

"Whatever you say." George nodded.

"I know you two are planning something." Percy grumbled.

"Us," one twin said.

"Planning something," the other side.

"Never." They said together with identical grins.

"Right, and I'm a centaur." He rolled his eyes at the twins and I could hear the sarcasm dripping from that phrase. I cracked up laughing. Ron and Neville looked confused while Hermione shook her head in annoyance. Mr. Malfoy looked at us with disdain but his wife and son managed to smile. The twins' grins got bigger and I couldn't help but think that this year was going to be interesting to say the least.


	8. Chapter 8

**Percy's PoV.**

Draco and his family left shortly after the brief talk on quidditch. The twins, Neville, Harry, Ron, and Hermione dragged me to the pet store. When we walked in all of the owls went completely silent and they stared at me like they were planning on scratching my eyes out. Considering that Athena's sacred animal is the owl and Athena hates my father, it is entirely possible. Luckily for me, all of the owls were in cages.

"What do we need here?" I asked Neville, feeling nervous with the owls glaring at me.

"You're allowed a pet at Hogwarts. Most people get owls since they are used for delivering mail. But you could get a cat or a toad if you don't want an owl." He said as he pulled me through the store. Harry and his friends disappeared somewhere else in the store. The twins stayed with me and Neville. "Though I don't recommend a toad. Mine is always getting away from me and is a pain to find again."

"I don't like cats and owls hate me." I told him and as if to prove my point, a large barn owl attacked the bars of its cage when I passed too close. "Are they the only options, and do I actually need a pet?"

"No, but it's good to have one for when you're feeling lonely." Gred said from my left.

"Ron has a pet rat, so I guess you could have some other pet." Forge added from my other side. The three of them continued to show me around the store, telling me the pro's and con's of each type of animal.

"This here is a good one." Neville said as he pointed at a strange looking furry creature. "They are really good house pets."

"They may be good house pets but they're completely useless for anything else." A voice whispered behind me. When I turned to look, no one was there. All I saw was a bored python.

"Hey, you still with us?" One of the twins asked.

"Yeah," I replied turning back to my friends. "What were you saying?" They rolled their eyes at me. They started to tell me more about the furry animal in front of us, how it would be a good option for me.

"Oh, please." The voice spoke again, this time I could tell that it was a female voice. "If you're going to get a pet it should be something that is helpful for more than just good company." I turned back around, sure that someone was there.

"Percy, are you ok?" Neville asked, sounding worried.

"I'm not sure. Did any of you hear someone talking behind us?" I asked. They exchanged looks.

"There's no one behind us, Percy." Gred told me gently.

"You're not trying to prank us are you?" Forge asked. "If you are then you're going to have to do a better job."

"I'm not trying to prank you. I swear I heard someone talking behind us, but...no one is there." I told them, highly confused.

"Ok, assuming that you're not crazy, what did they say?"

"That the animal we were talking about was useless and that if I was going to get a pet it should be something that has more use than being good company." They all shared another look when I told them that.

"You understood me?" the voice came again.

"Yes," I answered before I could stop myself.

"What?" Neville asked. He, Gred, and Forge looked at me like I was crazy, and I probably was.

"Well, no wonder you look so confused," spoke the mysterious voice. "It's not often that people can understand what I am saying, so I get used to saying things out loud without worrying that someone might understand." I looked at the python to see that it was looking at me. "So sorry for that." It said and I jumped back when I realized that the snake had actually spoken to me. "No need to be so jumpy, boy. I'm not going to eat you."

"Percy?" Someone asked but I couldn't tell who, I was still too shocked that the python talks.

"It's the python," I told them and they looked confused. "The python is who I heard talking." They shock on their faces didn't reassure me. "Can't you understand her?"

"Judging from the looks on their faces, I'd say that they can't, darling." The snake said. "They could be thinking you're crazy though."

"Thanks for that reassuring thought." I told her and she hissed, pretty sure that she was laughing at me.

"No way," Neville exclaimed, "you're a Parselmouth."

"A what?" I asked him.

"You can speak with snakes." The twins clarified. "Extremely rare gift. Harry is one as well, though he doesn't like talking about it." I thought about that until someone came by and asked if they could help us with anything.

"We're good, thanks." Gred told the guy, who nodded and started to walk off.

"Wait," I called to him and he turned back to me. "Can I get the python?"

"Unusual choice for a boy like yourself." He said.

"I like being unusual," I told him, "It keeps things interesting."

"If you're sure." He says as he opened the cage the snake was in, since the cage itself couldn't be moved. The python immediately slithered over to me and I let her climb up me and wrap around my shoulders. "She likes you." The guy commented as we made our way to the front of the shop. My friends followed us to the counter. "Would you like a cage for her?" I shook my head and he nodded and told me all that I needed to know for taking care of her. After paying for my new pet, we left and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. There we found Harry and his friends with a few more redheads. Ron was holding a pathetic looking rat while Hermione was clutching an orange cat. The two friends were arguing about something, at least until Ron saw us and his jaw dropped. Hermione and the others turned to look as well and I got the same thing from the rest of them.

"You got a snake for a pet?" Harry asked, a bit confused and shocked.

"Yes." I told him and he shook his head.

"Hello, I am Celestia, but you can call me Tia." My python said in greeting.

_"Hello, Tia."_ Harry said but there was something different about his voice.

"Well, well, two people who can understand me. It appears that I am finally going to have decent conversations." Tia said with what I would guess is a snake's smile.

_"Two?" _my brother inquired.

"I can speak to snakes too, it seems." I told him slightly weary of his reaction. Before any of them could say anything else Neville's grandmother found us. Floating behind her was my suitcase.

"Are you ready?" She demanded and I nodded and both Neville and I waved to the others and followed the old woman to a fireplace. She grabbed some powder from a plate on the mantle which she threw into the fireplace and promptly walked into it after grabbing hold of my suitcase. When the emerald flames died down Mrs. Longbottom was gone.

"Come on, then." Neville said and grabbed some of the powder as well. We both hefted our school stuff and he threw the powder into the fireplace and pulled me with him through the green flames. There was an awful spinning sensation for a few seconds before we tumbled out of another fireplace and onto a marble floor. It took me a minute or so to regain my bearings. At the moment, I was just glad that, whatever that was, was better than the way Severus brought me here by.

Looking around I saw that I was in a big room, and judging by the type of furniture, I'd say that it was a living room, just bigger than the ones I've been in. Mrs. Longbottom stood in front of us.

"Now, Perseus, dinner is at six thirty. Neville will lead you to your room and show you around." She said and pointed her wand at the two of us. All of the ash that had coated us disappeared. With that she left the two of us boys to our own devices. It took a minute for me to process the dinner part.

"Hey, Neville, what time is it?" I asked him.

"Almost four thirty." He said as he helped me gather the things I dropped when I fell coming out of the fireplace.

"We've been shopping that long?" He laughed at me.

"Yes, but you had fun, right?" For a moment he looked worried.

"Best school supplies shopping trip I've ever been on." I told him and he smiled at me.

"Come on, your room is upstairs, right next to mine." He informed me and led me farther into the house.

Maybe this won't be so bad after all, I thought to myself.

**Harry's PoV.**

Later that night I thought about today's events. Percy Jackson showed up with Professor Snape the day after Dumbledore told me that I have a brother. The kid looked almost exactly like me, despite being tanner and not as scrawny and his eyes were a slightly different color of green. If he was in fact my brother and he didn't recognize my name, that means no one told him about me. Though he didn't seem to know that much about the wizarding world and looked kind of overwhelmed by everything, so it's understandable that someone wouldn't want to dump the wizard realm and the fact that he has a long lost brother on him all in one go. I just hope someone tells him soon. Otherwise I might lose my mind and do something incredibly stupid, such as telling him myself. Which might not go over to well without much evidence of the claim.

Then there's how the rest of Hogwarts will react to the information that I have a brother. People are going to hate him just because he's related to me. Not to mention the fact that he is also a Parselmouth. Others might just use him to get close to me for my fame. He won't get the chance to be someone if everyone only knows him as the brother of the 'boy-who-lived'. I don't want that for him.

Maybe it might be better for him after all if no one knows his identity, I thought, but I still want him to know that he has me for a family.

"Don't worry, Johnathan," I whispered to myself, "we'll be a family soon enough. Just wait. I know that we will be together again as brothers."


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy's PoV.**

September 1st came too soon for me. Neville did help me with some of the stuff I needed to catch up on, like Herbology, History of Magic, and wand movements. Since we couldn't do magic outside of school we were limited on what he could help me with. He tried helping me go over the other stuff using just the books but my dyslexia made it a lot harder than it should have been. We did both get a kick when I tried to look through my Monster Book of Monsters and it nearly took off my hand, though from that I learned that if you stroke the spine the book will calm down so you can read it.

That morning Mrs. Longbottom, Neville, and I flooed to Kings Cross station, meaning we came by fireplace which I learned was known as traveling by floo powder. As we walked through the crowds to our platform all of the worry and fear that I have been feeling over the past few weeks almost overwhelmed me. I tried to distract myself by looking over my train ticket. Overall it was just like any other ticket except that platform number.

"Am I reading this right, Neville?" I asked the boy walking next to me. "I don't think there's any platforms with a fraction in any train station. Unless you're in Neverland."

"What's Neverland?" He looked at me questioningly.

"Right, you've never seen Peter Pan." I said and held up my ticket. "Ticket, fractions, why and where?"

"Oh, Platform 9 and 3/4 is between platforms 9 and 10." Neville answered but it really didn't clear things up by much. Even so I continued to follow the Longbottoms through the station, Neville and I pushing our carts, sorry, trolleys since we're in England. I miss America. We eventually stopped in front of a wall between platforms 9 and 10. "Just run at the wall to get to the platform."

"Do what?" I gave him the look that says 'did I miss something'.

"I'll show you." He said and looked to see if anyone else was watching who shouldn't be, and ran straight at the wall. If I was hoping he would just crash into the wall then I would have been disappointed, but seeing as how I wasn't that mean I was just hoping he wouldn't get too hurt when he did hit the wall. However, he just passed straight through the wall like it wasn't even there.

"Go on, Perseus," Mrs. Longbottom said waving at me to go. I nodded to her and before I could change my mind, I lined my trolley up with the wall and ran straight at it hoping I wouldn't crash. Tia would hate me if her sleep were disturbed in such a way. My worries were for naught as I passed through the wall with no problem. The platform was mostly empty, and when I looked at the time I saw that it was only 10:19, Neville told me that most people don't start arrive until 10:30 and the train leaves at eleven. He also told me that they wanted to get here earlier than most so that I could get situated beforehand rather than having to find somewhere to sit and stow my things amongst the hustle and bustle. Quite considerate of them. I found Neville waiting for me and his grandmother and made my way over to him, and his grandmother joined us a few moments later. After we said farewell to her and I thanked her for housing me, Neville and I went to find a compartment to put our stuff in. We decided to get one in the middle of the train and we started with moving Neville's things into the compartment first. On our way back out to get my stuff I ran into someone and almost toppled to the ground but the person I ran into caught and steadied me.

"Careful now," the man said as he let go of my shoulders, "might hurt yourself or an innocent bystander."

"Sorry," I told him, blushing slightly out of embarrassment. The man chuckled. He was about average height with light brown hair, amber eyes, and a handsome face despite all the scars.

"You boys are here early; most of the students don't start arriving until 10:30." He said to us.

"Um, I'm new to Hogwarts this year so I thought I'd come earlier so I could get settled before the majority of everyone else showed up." I told him and he turned thoughtfully for a moment.

"Strange, I've never heard of Hogwarts taking in new students beyond first years." The guy commented.

"Special circumstances," I said simply and he seemed to let it go for the moment.

"Do you need any help with your things?"

"Actually, yeah, that'd be great." I accepted his offer with a smile. I ended up tripping over my feet as I started to lead the way off the train so we could get my things on board. The man had to catch me once again before I fell to the ground. I started to silently curse myself for always being such a klutz.

"A bit clumsy, aren't we?" He asked me with a smile and I could tell that there was a trouble maker in the man in front of me. I could feel my face going red in embarrassment as I led the way back onto the platform. More people had started to arrive but I paid them no heed as I grabbed Tia's basket from off the top of my trunk. With a flick of his wand, the man levitated my trunk and Neville led the way to our compartment and I placed the basket on one of the seats and the man put my trunk in the top rack above me.

"Thanks for the help, sir." I told him and I remembered something. "I'm Percy, by the way. Percy Jackson. This is Neville Longbottom."

"Remus Lupin. I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year." The man informed us. "Seeing as you're taken care of, I will be on my way and you can go start making some new friends." He left us and we headed back to the platform to see if any of the other people I've met already have shown up.

At eleven the train pulled out of the station and we were on our way to Hogwarts. The twins, who I learned were actually called Fred and George but I stuck to calling them by the names they first told me, had joined me and Neville in our compartment while Harry and his friends got one near the back of the train. We hung out with them for a bit and I also noticed that they were sharing the compartment with Professor Lupin, though he was asleep. Which I guess was good since he looked like he needed it when I met him earlier. After a bit we went back to our compartment and the twins showed me how to play exploding snap while they told me about what they expected from me since I was now a part of their trouble making. The three boys I was sitting with really wanted me to be sorted into Gryffindor with them but the twins said that they would still like me no matter what house I ended up in and Neville agreed with them.

"So how exactly are we sorted?" I asked since we were on the topic of which house I would be in.

"You have to fight a troll." Gred and Forge said at the same time, looking completely serious.

"I doubt that they would make eleven year olds fight against a troll." They looked disappointed that I caught them in their lie. "Though fighting a troll could be fun." The three boys looked at me shocked. "What?"

"You never stop surprising people, do you?" Neville said with a smile.

"Nope." The twins grinned when I said that. "But really, how are we sorted?"

"You put on the Sorting Hat and it will place you depending on your personality and if you show strong traits for multiple houses then it will look into your memories and see how you deal with conflict." Gred said.

"It looks at your memories?" I asked and I was surprised when my fear leaked into my voice.

"Is something wrong?" Forge asked and they all looked worried.

"Can I fight the troll instead?" They exchanged looks at that and they didn't say anything else.

"Percy, would you like to take a walk with me?" Tia asked nicely from where she was coiled up on the seat next to me. I couldn't speak so I just nodded and opened the door and followed her into the hall. She slithered along next to me as we made our way up to the front of the train. The few people wondering the hall moved out of my way when they saw Tia. After a few minutes I started to calm down. "Feeling better?" My snake asked and I gave her a smile and a nod.

"Percy?" I heard someone ask and I saw Draco just ahead of me leaning out of his compartment.

"Hello again, Draco." I told him.

"Is that your snake?" He pointed to Tia.

"Yes, Draco meet Tia. Tia this is Draco." I introduced them.

"He looks like a ferret." Tia hissed to me and I cracked a smile. Draco had a look of shock when I looked back at him.

"You just spoke in Parseltongue." The blonde boy said in disbelief.

"I ate a ferret once; it had the same look on its face when it realized that it was going to die." Tia commented and I burst out laughing only to receive an odd look from Draco. Before either of us could say anything someone called out to us from a bit further up the train.

"Excuse me," an older boy called.

"You're excused." I told him and smiled when he glared.

"I suppose you're the boy someone told me about, the one with a snake." He said. The guy had red hair, horn rimmed glasses, a pompous attitude and a badge.

"Obviously, and you are?"

"Percy Weasley, I'm headboy." Percy said with an aloof air around him. "Now, what are you doing with the snake?"

"Well there were these two redheads and they looked like twins." I started but the headboy interrupted me.

"Those would be my annoying younger brothers."

"Really?" I asked, shocked. "I almost feel sorry for you. But anyway, they started to make fun of my name and I got angry and accidentally turned one of them into this python. I was heading up to the front to see if there was someone who could turn him back..." I trailed off at the look on Percy's face. "What?"

"You turned my..." He said looking devastated. "That type of accidental magic can only be undone by a trained healer."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we have to wait till we get to Hogwarts to get him returned to normal."

"Oh." I said as if it was awful. Draco had stayed silent as us two Percys talked. "How long until we reach the school?"

"Not for another few hours." The older Percy said with frustration.

"I'll keep an eye on the snake but you should probably go comfort the other one. He's down somewhere in the middle of the train." And without another word he left to find his grieving little brother.

"Tell me you didn't do what you said you did, otherwise I might start being nice to you." Draco said.

"You should be nice to me anyway. I am the new kid after all." I smirked at him. "But that story is totally false. Which he will soon find out." Tia wrapped her way around me so she rested on my shoulders.

"I don't think that's how you want to start the school year, darling." She said with a snake's smile.

"Come here," Draco pulled me into his compartment and closed the door. "There is something wrong with you."

"Hmm, I thought there were a lot of things wrong with me." I told him and I noticed that there were other people in the compartment, three boys and a girl, and some of them were glaring at me. "Hi." I told them.

"Draco, who is this?" The girl demanded.

"This is Percy Jackson." He answered.

"He better not be a mudblood." One boy grumbled.

"I'm a half-blood." I told him and he glared at me.

"I wasn't talking to you." He growled.

"I know."

"We heard you say something about parseltongue." The girl said to Draco.

"Percy's a parselmouth." The blonde said.

"Just because he has a snake doesn't mean he's a parselmouth." The boy said to the blonde.

"These people don't seem very nice, I do hope that you don't end up with them when you're sorted." Tia said to me.

"If I do end up with them at least I can console myself with the fact that I will still be able to talk with you." I replied to her and I smirked at the dropped jaws and wide eyes. "So now that that's out of the way, what are your names?"

"Pansy Parkinson, pureblood." The girl told me and I smiled at her.

"Theodore Nott, pureblood." The boy that spoke said and I nodded to him. The other two boys I recognized from Diagon Alley though I didn't get their names then. "These are Crabbe and Goyle." They just grunted when their names were said.

"Percy, I don't want to be mean or anything, but people aren't going to like the fact you can talk to snakes." Pansy told me bluntly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Well, Parseltongue is considered dark magic. If you're not careful about it and the wrong people find out...it's not going to end well for you." Theodore said when Pansy took too long to say anything. I almost laughed at that.

"I don't think that would work for very long." I told them and they gave me questioning looks. "I don't really have the best of luck."

"Well luckily, you'll have me as your friend to help keep you out of trouble." Draco said and the rest of us gave him shocked looks.

"So you do want to be friends with me? A poor boy raised by a muggle?" I asked him, smiling at his uncomfortable expression.

"I can't just leave you to those annoying Gryffindors, who knows how much they'll corrupt you."

"I don't think so. I am an almost completely incorruptible force. If anything I will be the one corrupting them." They all rolled their eyes at me. All of the sudden the train hit the brakes and I was thrown into Draco and we landed on the seat while the others were thrown onto the floor.

"What happened, we can't be there already." Pansy said as she picked herself up off the floor.

"Those were the emergency breaks, something must be wrong." I told them.

"How do you know that?" Theodore asked me a bit angrily. Trying to brush the dirt off of his robes as he stood back up.

"Because I'm pretty sure trains don't stop like that when they're pulling into the station." By now we were all on our feet.

"So what do we do?" Crabbe asked, and that was the first time I heard him or Goyle say anything.

"We wait." Silence fell around as we waited to get moving again. After fifteen minutes or so something happened. The lights flickered and went out and frost started to coat anything made of glass and we all shivered as the temperature dropped. The others pulled out their wands, the tips of them glowing with light.

A figure appeared at the compartment door and I felt a horrible feeling spread throughout my body and all my worst memories flew through my mind. I collapsed as the cold and memories blocked everything else out. I could hear the others shouting but they sounded far away and I couldn't make out what they were saying. Though one word I could understand; help. They were in trouble. That got me to snap out of whatever funk I was in long enough to see what was going on. The figure I saw was inside of the compartment and coming towards us. Draco and Theodore were yelling at it to go away while Pansy shouted for help.

As the figure came closer and it reached out its hand towards me, a rotted hand like you would see on a mummy. One thought ran through my head when I saw the hand: evil. So I did the one thing that made sense in my fear induced haze, three finger claw over my heart and pushed out. An invisible force slammed into the creature forcing it out of the compartment and the door slammed shut. It banged at the door trying to get back in but the door stayed closed and the window wouldn't break.

I must have been really out of it because a bright light appeared outside forcing the creature away. When it was gone all the lights came back on and the temperature came back up. I saw the door open just before I blacked out completely.


	10. Chapter 10

**Harry's PoV.**

I woke up on the compartment floor, confused and feeling like I have the flu. My friends were leaning over me and relief filled their faces when they saw me awake.

"What happened?" I asked them as I tried to remember how I ended up on the floor.

"Thank goodness you're all right." Hermione said as she and Ron helped me back into my seat.

"Where's that thing? Who screamed?" I asked them and they shared worried looks.

"No one screamed, Harry." She told me softly. "But..."

"But what?" I demanded. "What happened?"

"Well, that thing came and I thought you were having a fit or something." Ron said, looking scared. "You fell out of your seat and started twitching and you were unconscious."

"Professor Lupin told it that none of us were hiding Sirius Black and to leave but it didn't. So he muttered something and something silver shot out of his wand and hit it and it turned and glided away." Hermione finished the story.

"Did anyone else pass out?" I asked and they hesitated a moment before shaking their heads. Shame started to fill me. Of course it had to be me that fainted and not someone else. Then I realized something. "You hesitated, did something happen to someone else?" They gave me a pained expression. "Who else?"

"Percy Jackson, we didn't want to worry you." Hermione told me, desperate that I not be mad at her. "Though from what I've heard he didn't exactly pass out."

"What happened to him?" I asked and she opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the compartment door opening. Professor Lupin stepped inside sporting a new bruise on his jaw as if someone had hit him. He gave me a slight smile when he saw me.

"Glad you're awake, Harry. We'll be there in a few minutes. How are you feeling?" Lupin asked as he sat down across from me.

"I've been better." I answered before jumping into my own questions. "What was that thing? Hermione told me about Percy, is he alright? He isn't hurt is he?" The man held up his hand and I stopped talking.

"That was a dementor, from Azkaban. It was searching the train for Sirius Black." I started to ask him about that but he cut me off. "No, he wasn't here but they had to make sure. Mr. Jackson will be alright and no, he was not hurt. Though I will say that he has quite the right hook." He said, rubbing his bruised jaw.

"He hit you?" That shocked me.

"Whereas you passed out, Percy had a more violent reaction. He had a panic attack, I guess you could say. Dementors force you to relive all of your worst memories. Being trapped inside a memory, he most likely had no idea what he was doing."

"How bad of a memory would it have to be to get that type of reaction?" I whispered.

"My guess would be abuse, but you'd have to ask him. Though, I would wait until you've gotten to know him a bit more. Ask him before he's ready and he'll shut you out."

We sat in silence for the rest of the train ride. When we pulled into the station, everyone swarmed to get out. Outside, cold rain was pouring down on us. On our way to the carriages we waved to Hagrid. Though nothing was pulling the carriages, they still moved like they were being pulled by horses, jolting and swaying. Eventually we stopped and Ron and Hermione got out first. As I was getting out I heard the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. He was standing just outside the doors to get inside the school.

"Is it true that you fainted, Potter?" he asked with a wicked sneer. I glared at him.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Ron asked, looking angry.

"What about you, Weasley?" He asked turning to the redhead. "Did you faint as well?"

"Shove off, Malfoy." I told him.

"Or what?" He sneered. "You'll faint again?"

"Is there a problem here?" A mild voice asked. We turned to see Professor Lupin stepping down from the next carriage.

"No, Professor." Draco grumbled and he marched up the stone steps with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. Hermione pulled Ron and me up the stairs with the rest of the students and into the entrance hall. Just as we were about to go into the Great Hall I heard someone else call my name.

"Potter!" I saw Professor MaGonagall calling over the crowd. "Potter, Granger! I want to see you both." Slowly we managed to push through the crowds and were standing in front of her. "Move along Mr. Weasley. I only want a word with them." She said before ushering the two of us and another person away from the rest of the students. She led us up the stone staircase and along a corridor. I looked over to the other person with us and I was both glad and worried that it was Percy Jackson. He looked a bit pale and his hands were shaking slightly.

"You ok, Percy?" I asked him softly. It took him a moment to look at me and reply.

"I'll be fine." He said and I heard his voice crack a bit. "Thanks for asking." MaGonagall let us into her office, which had a large, welcoming fire, and motioned for us to sit. Percy immediately went and sat down next to the fire, holding his hands near the flames to warm them up. Hermione and I sat in the chairs as MaGonagall settled behind her desk.

"Professor Lupin sent an owl ahead to say that you two boys were taken ill on the train." MaGonagall told us.

"To put it lightly." Percy mumbled from his position next to the fire. There was a knock at the door and Madam Pomfrey walked in. I felt even more embarrassed that everyone was making a big fuss, since it was already bad enough that I had passed out.

"I am fine," I told them. "Honestly."

"I'll be the judge of that, Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey said as she checked my temperature. Chuckling sounded from the direction of the fireplace.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up while you can, Jackson, because you're next to get looked at." I told him and Madam Pomfrey switched to checking my pulse.

"What dangerous thing have you done this time?" the nurse asked me disapprovingly.

"It was a dementor, Poppy." Professor MaGonagall told her grimly and they exchanged dark looks.

"Why was that thing even there?" Percy demanded, standing up to join us.

"What do you know about Sirius Black?" MaGonagall asked him.

"He escaped from prison and all of you think he's coming here." I was surprised by his knowledge, as minimal as it was.

"Yes, well, the dementors are the guards at Azkaban, the prison Black escaped from, and so they are being stationed at all the entrances to the school to make sure he doesn't get in and to hopefully catch him." The Transfiguration teacher explained. Madam Pomfrey finished with me and moved towards Percy but he stepped away from her. She tried again but he backed up even further.

"Oh, really, Johnathan. I only need to give you a checkup. Make sure you're alright and such." Pomfrey told him, sounding slightly exasperated.

"I'm cold, I was pretty much forced to relive all of my worst memories just a few hours ago, blacked out and hit anyone that touched me because of my fricking PTSD. Checkup done. Can I go?"

"Percy, she just wants to help." I glared at him for the tone he used on Madam Pomfrey. After a brief glaring contest he looked down at the floor and relaxed a bit and let the healer give him the same checkup she did with me. Then she noticed the bandage on his right hand, and I remembered seeing his hand bandaged when I first met him.

"What happened to your hand?" I asked him as the nurse tried to undo the bandage but Percy pulled his hand away from her.

"I got hurt about a month ago. It's not a problem." He answered holding his injured hand.

"Judging by the looks of the wrappings, you've been bandaged yourself up. At least let me check that there is no danger of infection?" Pomfrey held out her hand, and after a few moments Percy reluctantly placed his hand in Madam Pomfrey's palm. When she got the bandage undone and saw what was on his palm she gasped and turned pale. "How are you still alive, Johnathan?" She whispered.

"Someone who knew what to do found me in time." He replied evenly, not looking at her. I glanced at his palm and saw a red welt with spider veins spreading out from it and there was a blackish tint to the welt as well. "Can I please go now?" He wrapped his hand back up.

"Well, Poppy, what do they need?" Professor MaGonagall asked the nurse.

"They should at least have some chocolate."

"Professor Lupin already gave us some." Hermione spoke up.

"He did? Well it looks like we finally have a defense teacher that knows his remedies. Yes you two boys may go, and be careful. It's bad enough having one Potter always ending up in the Hospital wing. I don't want to be seeing two of you in there all the time." With that Madam Pomfrey left.

"Two of us?" I turned to MaGonagall hoping to hear the words that I have been waiting for. She gave me a rare smile before replying.

"Harry, would you be as so kind as to escort your brother back to the Great Hall for his sorting while I talk with Miss Granger about her classes." A smile crept onto my face as I nodded and pulled him out of MaGonagall's office. He pulled his arm from my grasp sharply as soon as the door closed behind us.

"Sorry." I murmured as I recalled what he said about hitting people who touched him. "So, did Professor Snape tell you that we were brothers?" He nodded. "Why didn't you say anything when we met in Diagon Alley?"

"I didn't know if anyone had told you. Plus I didn't know what to say."

"It's ok; I wouldn't have known what to say either. I hope you're in Gryffindor, that way we can spend more time with each other." I told him and he looked at me.

"What if I'm not in Gryffindor?" By this time we were heading down the staircase to the Great Hall.

"Then we'll just have to find time to hang out. Me, Ron, and Hermione could help you get caught up with your classes." He smiled at that.

"You'll have to fight the twins for that job." We entered the Great Hall and I saw that the last of the first years were just finishing up being sorted.

"Good luck." I told him and he gave me a slight smile as he walked up the Hall to be sorted and I made my way to Gryffindor's table and sat down next to Ron.

"Where's Hermione?" My friend asked quietly.

"Talking with MaGonagall about her classes." I whispered back just as Dumbledore stood up at the staff's table.

"Welcome all of you to a new year of school here at Hogwarts. I know you have all heard rumors about a new student joining the third years and they are true. I'm sure all of you will join me in welcoming him to our halls. Might I present Johnathan, Harry Potter's twin brother." There was silence in the Great Hall for a few seconds before there was an uproar amongst the student body. Dumbledore raised his hand and silence reigned again. With a gesture, he motioned my brother forward. Whispers spread across the Hall.

"That's the boy from the train."

"The one with the snake."

"That's Harry's brother?"

The boy in question stepped up and sat on the stool at Professor Flitwick's direction and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head. I tried not to hold my breath as I waited for the Hat to call out which house he'd be in. After a couple of minutes the Hat spoke again and I think it's safe to say that I wasn't the only one who was surprised by what it said.

"Fine! If that's the way you're going to be, then enjoy your time in Slytherin!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Percy's PoV.**

"Good luck." Harry told me and he went to sit down as I slowly made my way up the Hall. An old man stood up at the head table and most everyone's attention was given to him. Quickly, I scanned the room to find the other people I know and Draco caught my eye. He nodded minutely so as not to be noticed by anyone else and I gave him a slight smile in return as the old guy started speaking.

"Welcome all of you to a new year of school here at Hogwarts. I know you have all heard rumors about a new student joining the third years and they are true. I'm sure all of you will join me in welcoming him to our halls. Might I present Johnathan, Harry Potter's twin brother." At that practically everyone in the room started to talk.

"Impossible!"

"Harry Potter never had any siblings!"

"How come he's only coming now?" Etc. You get the picture. The old man raised his hand and everyone went silent and he beckoned me forward. The little man standing next to a stool motioned for me to sit and I did so, trying to ignore the whispers amongst the students. A hat was placed on my head and a second later there was a voice in my head that wasn't supposed to be there.

_How interesting, _it said, _loyal to a fault and courage beyond what I usually see. Resourceful too, almost to the point of being cunning. Plenty of potential here, but where would you do best?_

_Um, do you talk about all the students like this when you're sorting them?_ I thought to the voice in my head.

_Like what?_

_Like they can't hear you, or are you just talking to yourself and we can just happen to hear you too? _The voice chuckled at that.

_I might be mistaken but I think you just insulted me. Not very wise to insult the thing that will decide what fate you will have to face for the rest of your years here at Hogwarts and possibly even after you leave._

_You may decide which house to put me in but you do not decide my fate._

_But there is darkness in you, and where I put you might just get you to give in to it._

_You know nothing about me! _I mentally growled at the Sorting Hat. _You don't decide what I do, so get the Hades out of my head! _I slammed a metaphorical door on the voice to prove my point and I was surprised that I had shut the Hat out of my head completely because I could feel it trying to get back in. It finally gave up after almost a minute.

"Fine!" I heard it shout out loud. "If that's the way you're going to be, then enjoy your time in Slytherin!" I ripped the Hat off my head and handed it back to the short guy, who pointed me towards the table Draco was sitting at. No one made a sound as I made my way over to the table. Fortunately both Draco and Pansy were quick to shake off their shock and made room for me between them. After a few minutes of awkward silence the old man that introduced me started talking again.

He explained that the dementors will be stationed at the school entrances and not to give them reason to harm us, blah, blah, blah. Then he introduced two new teachers, Professor Lupin, who I had met on the train, and a Hagrid, judging from the more welcoming reception, most people already know him and like him. After that food appeared on the tables and everyone started to dig in. I didn't though.

"Aren't you hungry?" Pansy asked me when she saw I wasn't getting anything.

"The dementor and the stupid hat put me off my appetite." I told her.

"You should at least have a little something." She said, reminding me of my mom. "Here, what would you like?" She grabbed my plate.

"I don't care." I said and she rolled her eyes at me before filling my plate up with food.

"Why didn't you tell us who you really were?" Draco asked from my other side. Anger and disbelief coloring his tone.

"Would you have believed me if I did?" I shot back.

"No, of course not."

"Exactly."

"There you are, and you have to eat all of your vegetables or you won't be getting any deserts." Pansy interrupted by placing my plate back in front of me, full of food. "Now eat."

"Yes, ma'am." I picked up my fork and started to eat without looking at what I had on my plate. My eyes roamed around looking at the other students, most of which I caught staring at me but they quickly looked away when they noticed that I caught them staring. Finally, I found Harry sitting with his friends, Hermione had joined them, but it was the expression on my brother's face that really got my attention. A combination of confusion, shock, and betrayal that made me look down at the table, feeling like I did something wrong.

"Don't worry about him. Gryffindor's think they're better than us and that all Slytherins are evil." Pansy said to me.

"Funny, Neville said almost the same thing except he used the words 'stupid and impulsive' when he told me about how Slytherin views Gryffindor." I told her dryly.

"Well, they are." She said defensively. "And if you don't believe us we can tell you all the things that your brother has done in just the two years he's been here."

"That sounds like a good idea for when I really need some cheering up." I told her before turning back to my food.

"What happened with the Sorting Hat that made it shout out like that?" Draco asked me imploringly. "The only time it speaks out loud is when it sings its song at the beginning of the sorting and when it shouts what House you're in." I couldn't help but stare at him, wide eyed.

"It sings?" I asked in disbelief, and both he and Pansy laughed at me. "Glad I missed that, otherwise I would have insulted it on that as well as the fact it talks to itself." Apparently others around were listening to our conversation because about eight people stared at me, shocked. "What?"

"You insulted the Sorting Hat?" An older kid asked me.

"Yeah, then it said something about how it has the power to decide my fate, I told it to get out of my head and I sorta kinda shut it out of my mind, which it really didn't like, so here I am." That got me even more strange looks.

"Well, Johnny, we didn't think you were Slytherin material." A voice I recognized said and I looked up to see the Weasley twins standing next to our table. Almost everyone else glared at them. I, on the other hand, smiled at them slightly.

"But from we just heard I think we might have to reconsider." Forge said smirking.

"We've never heard of a Slytherin being a prankster." Gred added with an identical smile.

"So it will be interesting to see what you can bring to our little group of misfits."

"If you're still interested."

"Why wouldn't I be interested? Causing trouble might be the one thing that I'm actually good at, even if it is unintentional most of the time." I told them, rolling my eyes.

"Would you two go away? And no Slytherin will be joining your little crusade against the school rules. We have more important things to do." A sixteenish year old girl told them as she stood up, I also noticed she had a badge kind of like the twins' older brother but her's had a 'P' on it.

"No need to get your wand in a twist." One brother said.

"We're not staying." Said the other.

"By the way, Johnny, we liked the stunt you pulled on our git of a brother."

"We couldn't stop laughing for all the time he was yelling at us for putting you up to it."

"You did what?" the older girl turned towards me. "You let these two worthless Gryffindors pull you into one of their schemes on the first day?"

"Nope. I willing played a joke on the head boy without their knowledge and he believed that they were the ones behind it when he realized what I told him was a trick." I answered her honestly, albeit with a mischievous smile.

"Why would you do it in the first place?" She demanded.

"Seemed like the thing to do at the time." I shrugged and she just sighed with annoyance.

"You two go back to your table." The twins flashed her identical smirks before heading back to Gryffindor's table. "Johnathan, what characteristics did the Sorting Hat say you have?" She asked me carefully.

"Loyalty, courage, and resourcefulness." I told her, looking her in the eyes.

"And did the Hat say anything about the other houses to you?" I shook my head and she cursed under her breath. "Johnathan, if you did force the Hat out of your mind before it finished judging you...What I'm trying to say is… you might not actually belong in Slytherin."

"You say that as if you think it's a good thing to not be in Slytherin House."

"Some people just aren't cut out for Slytherin." An older boy, who also has a badge, said, a bit indifferent.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I told him.

"Your sarcasm is noted." He replied with a small smile. "How long have you known that Harry Potter's your brother?"

"Since the first week of August. I also had no idea who I really was until Professor Snape showed up at my door."

"Well, I guess that's good, since you pretty much just found out that means you shouldn't have an over inflated head about being the brother of the boy-who-lived." Draco commented dryly.

"Which translates into: I don't think myself above everyone else simply because of who my family is. Unlike, what I'm guessing is most of you."

"How'd you figure that?" Someone across from me asked.

"The air of arrogance that most of you give off. Don't worry, I've dealt with spoiled rich brats enough to know what I'm talking about. Though I think the British term would be prats, rather than brats but that's beside the point." I went back to eating my food.

"Are you really comparing us to muggles?" Pansy asked, sounding offended.

"What makes you think he's comparing us to muggles?" a dark skinned boy around my age asked the Slytherin girl.

"On the train ride hear he made a comment about being raised by muggles." She informed him offhandedly before returning her attention to me.

"Yes because the only real difference between us and them is the fact that we have magic. I don't even see why, or how, that makes us better in any way." I answered her.

"We have the power to kill them with a single word if we wanted to. How does that not make us better than them?" The older boy across from me demanded.

"You clearly know nothing about muggle weaponry." I said to him. "You can trust a wizard, or witch, with magic about as much as you can trust a muggle with a gun. Let's just leave it at that." They all fell silent at that and we continued to eat our dinner. After a few minutes I picked up my goblet to get a drink and I nearly choked on the liquid. What I tasted was definitely not what I was expecting. Snickering sounded around me. "Oh, by the way Percy, that drink is a wizard exclusive so don't be surprised by it." I said to no one in particular in a higher octave than my actual voice before switching to my regular level. "Aw, thanks so much for the warning. I would have hated to have choked because I didn't know what it was. That means so much to me." Then I went back to the higher octave. "Don't thank me, it was my pleasure." I glared pointedly at Draco.

"Why are you glaring at me? I didn't do anything." He said, trying to defend himself.

"Exactly. You didn't tell me what I was drinking, so if I died from choking on it, it'd be your fault." He rolled his eyes at me.

"It's just pumpkin juice, for Merlin's sake. It's not poison."

"It is possible to choke on other things besides poisons. People die from choking on food and drink more often than you think."

"Shut up and eat your food, you annoying half-blood. You won't get another chance to until breakfast." He grumbled and the others looked like they were trying their best not to laugh.

"If I must." I pouted like it was a terrible thing to eat my dinner. The others cracked up laughing at that and after a few moments both me and Draco joined in.


	12. Chapter 12

**Percy's PoV.**

"Come on, Johnathan, get up. Class starts in fifteen minutes." A voice above me said, sounding annoyed.

"Ten more minutes." I grumbled at them.

"That's what you said almost an hour ago when I tried to get you up for breakfast." Now I was able to identify the voice to be Draco's. "Get your lazy bum up or I won't give you your schedule and you'll have to figure out what classes you have by yourself and where they are."

"It's too early."

"No it is not and if you don't get up you'll be late and Slytherin will lose points and everyone will hate you." He said and I sighed in defeat.

"Do I have to wear the ridiculous uniform?" I asked him, dreading the answer.

"Yes."

"Ugh."

_"Cheer up, Percy. It's only the first day__." _Tia said from her basket that I stashed under my bed. I smiled a bit and rolled out of bed onto the floor and slowly got to my feet.

"Now get changed and hurry, your first class is at the top of the north tower. Alice said she'd show you the way there but she's not going to wait for long. You have Divination and Transfiguration before lunch." Draco said and put a piece of parchment on my bed as I started getting changed.

"Thanks." I told him and I pulled on my robes. "Whose bright idea was it to have dresses as the school uniform?"

"They're robes and it's a tradition." The blonde boy replied.

"Well some traditions could be done without." I pulled on my sneakers and then grabbed the text books that I needed and put them my new side bag along with some parchment, an ink bottle and a few quills. Then I grabbed the paper Draco set on my bed and made sure that I had my pen and wand. "Kay, let's go." He led me down to the common room where Pansy and a few of the other third year Slytherins were waiting as well as the sixth year prefect I spoke with last night.

"See you at lunch, Johnathan." Draco said as he started to leave with the others in our year.

"Hey, Draco, call me Percy." I told him and he rolled his eyes at me and they were gone.

"Come along, we don't have long to get you to your first class." Alice said as we exited the common room and she led me though the dungeon hallways. "Though, if you had gotten up with the rest of your dorm mates we wouldn't have to hurry. Since this is your first time here we are going to give you a pass but if it happens again points will be taken and you'll be giving a detention. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." I told her as I tried to keep up with her quick pace. Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. "Why couldn't Draco show me to my class? I mean we are in the same year, so same classes, right?"

"Usually, but your schedule is different from theirs. Most likely because you're just coming in and you were just put into the classes that had a spot open. You do have most of the same choruses just at different times, but you do have some classes with them so don't worry too much."

"So, divination is fortune telling, yes?"

"Yes and the class is a complete waste of time if you ask me." She said, slightly out of breath from climbing several flights of stairs. I was feeling out of breath as well and we had just passed the fifth floor.

"Why is it a waste of time?"

"You'll see." We walked the rest of the way in silence. Eventually we came to be at the bottom of a ladder leading up through a trapdoor. "This is where I leave you. Think you'll be able to get to your next class without me?" I nodded.

"Thanks for the help." I told her and she left after giving me a slight smile. Taking a steadying breath I climbed the ladder. At the top I was greeted with the sight of a strange classroom that looked like a kid had tried to set up a tea shop in an attic and the rest of the class sitting around the tables they somehow managed to cram up here. Everyone turned to look at me when I came into sight. "Umm, hi."

"Well don't dolly about, come and sit down. The future awaits." Said a woman with glasses that magnified her eyes, tons of necklaces and draped in a gauzy shawl. "Come, come, we haven't got all day." Looking around I only saw one open spot and it was with my brother and his two friends. Without a word I went and sat down with them and the Professor went on to explain what we were going to be doing in her class. I zoned out after the first few sentences and instead scanned the rest of the room. In the dim crimson light it was a bit hard to make out colors but I could see well enough to see the red color on their robes. Well that's great. I'm a snake in a den of lions. I had to stifle my laughter at that thought but a chuckle still escaped me. "Is there something you find amusing, my boy?" The professor asked and I focused my attention on her again.

"Not really." I told her. "I'd say more pathetic than amusing. But don't mind me; go back to what you were saying."

"Come on, dear, don't be shy. Tell us what is on your mind." She insisted.

"If you don't like it, it's your fault for insisting that I tell." I told her and she just waved me on. "I was just thinking that it's rather pathetic that you have to suffocate and give your students heat stroke in order for you to teach your class. The amount of incense your burning in here is way too much, I mean seriously, are you trying to kill us. And the heat, we are not food so there's no need to roast all of us alive. I get the whole 'trying to set the mood' thing but you have gone a bit over just 'setting the mood'. Plus, from what I've heard so far you're just playing to people's fears and saying random dates, not actually seeing the future. But at least this class is mostly Gryffindors and according to my housemates most of them are pushovers anyway." For those in the class who haven't been glaring at me since I walked in were glaring at me now and the Professor looked a little annoyed.

"Might I see your hand?" Instead of waiting for me to answer she grabbed my left hand and examined it. "You have a short life line, your new to the world of magic, not much power either, my boy. Don't write off that which you don't understand." She turned away and went back on to explain that we were going to get into groups of two and read each other's tea dregs. My attention drifted off again and I noticed Harry glaring at me more so than the others.

"What?" I asked him in a whisper.

"Was that necessary?" He demanded in an equally quiet whisper.

"Yes because I didn't want to say what I was actually thinking." I answered him.

"So you insult our teacher and my House to avoid being honest?" He looked angry and hurt.

"I was honest with what I said. It just wasn't what I was thinking." We stood up to get our tea cups with everyone else and sat back down.

"So what were you thinking, snake?" Ron demanded harshly.

"I will not tell you if you ask me with that tone." I told him just as harshly.

"Both of you play nice." Hermione snapped at us. "Johnathan, will you please tell us what you were thinking?" She asked in a softer tone.

"One condition," they raised their eyebrows at me, "call me Percy. Johnathan may be the name I was given when I was born but I was raised as Percy. I'm not about to start going by a different name just because someone says it's my real one." They exchanged looks before answering.

"Okay, Percy." Harry said carefully, I could tell he was still angry though. Noticing the Professor looking our way I started to drink my tea and the others followed my lead when they saw the teacher looking our way as well. My brother set his cup down first. "Brother, please tell me." That got me to almost tell him then and there but I was still hesitant because I really didn't want Ron and Hermione to know. Then I remembered a talent we both shared.

_Gryffindor and Slytherin are rivals. That much is easy enough for me to understand, _I told him in parseltongue and I saw him tense up a bit at the change of language. _I'm a lone Slytherin in a class with only Gryffindors. I could tell from the moment I arrived in the classroom that most of them didn't like me. I haven't even been here a day and only spoken to a handful of people and yet people who I haven't talked to yet judge me by the colors of my uniform._

"English mate." Ron said giving me a slight glare. "Me and Hermione can't understand parselmouth."

"I think that was the point Ron. And it's 'Hermione and I'" Hermione told him, but looking at me like I'm a problem she was having trouble solving.

"Well he's not going to be making many friends if he keeps speaking the snake language." The redhead pointed out.

"Insulting our House doesn't help him in that department either." A boy from one of the nearby tables interrupted.

"Technically I didn't insult you guys." I told him and he glared at me.

"Sure sounded like you did." Another boy said coldly.

"I said 'according to my_ housemates' _so really they are the ones that insulted your House, not me. Though, if you want me to insult Gryffindor House, I will." I replied evenly and they turned back to their tea cups and textbooks. "We should get back to the assignment." Both Harry and Hermione nodded while Ron moped. Finishing our tea and doing the other stuff as directed we exchanged cups, Hermione with Ron and Harry with me. "You go first." He rolled his eyes at me.

"Ok, there's a...I think it's a flying horse...which means that you will 'obtain nobility, or great power' good for you...also a skull looking blob, 'danger'...a horseshoe looking thing...this one isn't in here." Harry paused as he searched for the symbol in his textbook. Unfortunately Trelawney overheard my brother and took my cup from him.

"Ah, yes, very rare to see a flying horse in the dregs." She commented as she turned the cup in her hands. "The skull, and, oh my, that is a strange symbol. I don't believe I've ever seen that one before."

"What does it look like?" I asked her but she ignored me.

"It looks like a horseshoe but more circular like an 'O' with wings on the bottom." Harry answered. I thought for a moment while Trelawney continued to examine the cup, then I ripped a piece of parchment from one of my rolls and pulled out my ink and a quill. I got a few weird looks as I drew a symbol on the parchment.

"Like this?" I showed him and he looked surprised.

"Yes, exactly like that. Do you know what it means?" He looked back up at me.

"It's omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet." I told him just as our teacher gasped and quickly put my cup back on the table.

"The end and a trident...keep away from the water my boy. Your end awaits you there." She said to me, going a bit pale. It was hard to not laugh at that prediction.

"I'll keep that in mind. My turn." I snatched up Harry's cup before the Professor could.

"Are you sure you're able to?" She asked none too happy. "You also might want to get your book out."

"You're the one who said that textbooks can only take us so far. Besides, the book probably only has one meaning for each symbol. This way I can make my own interpretations." I grinned as Harry rolled his eyes at me. "Ok, a bird...a bit hard to make out which type."

"Does it matter?" He asked me.

"Yes because if it's a dove that means love is in your future, an eagle for nobility or strength, or a sparrow for freedom, etcetera. Then we have a skull, you know what that means. A baseball bat, I got nothing for that one unless you're thinking of taking up the sport. Lastly, a dog, I think...You do look like a dog person so you're going to get a dog."

"I doubt that." My brother said and he glared at the table.

"Or it could mean a new companion, like a person rather than an actual dog." I amended with a smile. "A brother for example." He looked up at me at that and after a moment smiled back.

"Let me check the cup." Professor Trelawney snatched the cup from me and did the same thing that she did with mine. "The falcon, a deadly enemy."

"Everyone knows that." Hermione told her and her two friends looked at her in surprise and the Professor sent her an annoyed look. "Everyone knows about Harry and You-Know-Who." She clarified for those giving her confused looks. "That's not really seeing the future."

"The club...an attack. Not a very happy cup." Our teacher muttered. "Yes, the skull." She paused than screamed, nearly dropping the cup. "The Grim." Most everyone gasped in horror.

"I take it that the Grim is bad. Like the Grim reaper." I said with a chuckle.

"It's the worst omen of - of death, it is not a matter to chuckle at." Someone told me sharply, I didn't see who. "Especially since it's for your brother."

"I refuse to believe that it means my brother is going to die tragically at the tender age of thirteen." Harry gave me a slight smile when I said that. If it does come true then heads might end up rolling, specifically the heads of three old ladies.


	13. Chapter 13

**Harry's PoV.**

The events of divination class kept running through my head as we made our way down to lunch. Percy was walking next to me with Ron and Hermione arguing in front of us. Trasfiguration class did help to cheer up my brother, though it was a bit surprising that we have the same first two classes. When Professor MaGonagall turned into a cat my brother's expression lit up like a child at Christmas. He spent practically the whole class asking questions about animagi and transfiguration in general and the merits of this type of magic. It was rather nice to see my brother interested in the topic and Professor MaGonagall looked pleased that he was interested as well. Perhaps my brother wasn't quite as much of a rebel that he looked to be.

As we got closer to the Great Hall Ron and Hermione slowed down and stopped their bickering. When I looked ahead of us I saw what caught their attention and I groaned. Draco and his Slytherin friends were waiting outside of the Great Hall and judging from the way they were looking at us I could tell that we were the ones they were waiting for. The blonde Slytherin sneered at us as we approached.

"Hey guys," Percy greeted them, unaffected by the glares aimed at us. "You all waiting for someone?"

"Hello Percy," Pansy returned the greeting. "We were waiting for you actually. You're going to sit with us, right?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" My brother looked slightly confused.

"No particular reason, just wanted to make sure you weren't going to sit by yourself or with hostile Gryffindors." the Slytherin girl replied.

"I'll have you know that Neville and the twins aren't that bad. Hmm, I haven't spoken to them yet today." Percy trailed off at that last bit. "So, I'll see you later then, Harry?" he turned to me with a hopeful look in his swirling green eyes.

"Of course." I told him and a small smile tugged at his lips. The Slytherins glared at me before entering the Great Hall with my brother in tow.

"Well, at least they didn't insult us too much." Hermione said softly when she noticed my expression of sadness at having my brother walk away from me to be with people that I hate. "Come on Harry, let's go eat." She pulled me over to the Gryffindor table and Ron followed glaring over at the Slytherin table.

"Of course he goes to sit with them. He's probably telling them everything he found out about us." Ron grumbled as he sat down across from us.

"Ron would you at least give him a chance. He may be a Slytherin but he is still Harry's brother." Our female friend said to him with her usual irritation.

"Well, how am I supposed to trust him if he starts speaking in Parseltongue whenever we ask him a question?" He asked her in annoyance.

"He only spoke in Parseltongue for that question." I informed him. "He said that he hates that people are automatically judging him simply because he's a Slytherin. I saw all the glares aimed at him when he first walked into Divination, Ron. Percy hasn't even been here a day and...I actually let myself think that he was as evil as Draco when I heard him insult Professor Trelawney the way he did."

"Percy isn't evil, Harry." Neville said from where he was sitting a few feet down from us. "If he was then he would have made fun of me nonstop while he stayed with me and my grandmother."

"Why was he staying with you? Never mind that. What was he like?" I asked him, slightly demanding.

"Well," the shy Gryffindor thought for a moment. "He's nice and likes to have fun. He even taught me how to play hacky sack even though I am rubbish at it. He went to a summer camp before he came here and he loved it. That's where he hurt his hand."

"Did he tell you how he got hurt?" Hermione inquired when he mentioned the injury. I knew why she was asking and I wanted to know as well. The way Madam Pomfrey reacted when she saw the welt on my brother's hand was enough to make me worry about my brother's past.

"No, when I tried to ask him he wouldn't say anything other than he didn't want to talk about it. As far as I could figure is that he doesn't like to share extremely personal information. On the train yesterday, he asked how we were sorted and when we told him that the hat looks through your memories he looked really scared and said he would rather fight a troll."

"Why would he be afraid of a hat looking at his past?" Ron demanded. "It's only a hat."

"It might just be the fact that it invades the mind, not that it's a hat, that scared him." Hermione argued. "How would you have felt if you were told that every little thing you thought or did was going to be seen?"

"Well, when you put it like that." The redhead turned back to his food.

"Did he really say he would rather fight a troll?" I asked Neville, who nodded since his mouth was full. Looking across to the Slytherin table, I saw my brother chatting with the third year snakes. Draco was saying something but Percy shut him up by stuffing a piece of bread into the blonde's mouth and the others laughed as he glared at my brother, who had an innocent smile on his face. A small chuckle escaped me at the scene and my friends sent me weird looks before following my gaze to the other side of the Great Hall just in time to see Draco throw the piece of bread at Percy who _very _maturely stuck his tongue out in retaliation, and the blonde rolled his eyes before laughing with the others sitting with them. "I would have never believed that Draco Malfoy could act like that in public if I hadn't of just seen that."

"Like what?" Neville asked slightly bewildered.

"Like a human being." I replied.

"Ditto." Ron muttered. "But he's still a good for nothing Slytherin."

"Well at least he's being nice to Johnathan despite the fact that he's Harry's brother." Hermione said sending Ron a pointed glare. He promptly ignored the glare, opting instead to finish eating his lunch. I followed suit and when lunch was over we gathered our stuff and headed down to Hagrid's for Care of Magical Creatures. As we made our way down I heard voices coming from behind us complaining about the book biting them whenever they tried to open it. Turning around I saw that it was Draco, Percy and the other third year Slytherins and I realized this must be a combined class.

"Well that's just great. Here I was think we're getting a class we might actually like and it turns out we have it with the snakes." Ron mumbled.

"Don't worry Ron. I doubt that Hagrid would let them get away with anything they try." I told him as we came up to Hagrid's hut with the rest of the class. The man himself was waiting for us at his door with Fang right beside him.

"Hurry up now!" The giant called to the rest of the class trailing behind us. "Is everyone here? Good, I got a real treat for yeh today! A great lesson, so follow me!" He led us around the edge of the forest, and after a few minutes we came to an empty paddock. "Gather around the fence if you could and open your books to Page thirty-seven." Most of the class exchanged nervous glances but I saw both Percy and Neville pull out their books and opened them up without a problem. Those that saw them do this looked at the two boys in awe.

"How did you two do that?" Dean asked them and Percy looked up at my fellow Gryffindor.

"Has no one else figured out how to open them?" he asked sounding shocked. Most of us shook our heads.

"I think most of us were too busy trying to keep our hands attached to our body to try and figure out how to open the damned books." Draco scowled. "So how did you two mange not to get a limb ripped off?"

"Percy was the one how figured it out after almost an hour of chasing it around trying to catch it and not to let it bite him. It was very entertaining." Neville said happily and Percy turned red when everyone turned to look at him.

"Really," I asked my brother, "You spent an hour chasing a book?"

"It was fun. None of my textbooks from my other schools were even remotely that entertaining. Just stroke the spine of your books and you'll be able to open them without getting attacked." He turned back to his book and flipped to the page Hagrid said to be on.

"Well, hurry up, yeh lot. Books out." Hagrid spoke up and the rest of us pulled out our books and did as Percy instructed and stroked the spine. My book gave a shudder before falling open in my hands.

"Hippogriffs?" Lavender Brown asked when she got her book open to page thirty-seven. Hagrid give her a smile and told us to wait here before striding into the forest. People kept sending looks at my brother as we waited, though I couldn't tell what they were thinking. Honestly, I didn't know what to think either but before I could contemplate any farther on the subject Lavender squealed and pointed to the other side of the paddock. About a dozen strange creatures came trotting into sight with Hagrid behind them, urging them into the paddock where he tied them to the fence opposite of us.

The creatures themselves were a sight to behold. They had the head, front legs, and wings of eagles with the body, hind legs and tail of a horse and once who got past how strange they looked they were rather beautiful. What made them even better was the fact that each of them was a different color. All around me I could hear people catch their breath as they looked at the hippogriffs. Hagrid made his way over to our side of the paddock with a big smile on his face when he saw the looks of awe on our faces.

"Beau'iful, aren' they?" There were a few nods from the class at Hagrid's question. "The thing abou' hippogriffs that yeh always want tah remember is that they're proud. They're very easily offended, so don't ever insult uhn unless yeh fancy getting yerself killed."

"So it's like dealing with my uncle?" Percy asked the giant with a straight face. For a moment I thought he was referring to Uncle Vernon, but then I remembered that they never met, so I was a bit confused but I decided to just ask him about it later.

"Oh, no, humans can be reasoned with, but hippogriffs won't think twice abou' killin' yeh." Hagrid informed him but my brother just shrugged. "Anyway, yeh should always let tah hippogriff make tah first move, ter be polite, yeh see. Once yeh get close enough, yeh bow and wait ter see if 'e bows back. If 'e does then you can go up and pet him, but if 'e don't then back away from him quick, those talons are gunna hurt. So," Hagrid grin and rubbed his hands together in excitement, "Who want ter go first?" No one volunteered. "Come now, no need ter be shy."

"I guess I'll give it a go." My brother spoke up and there were a few shocked gasps, from Lavender and Parvati.

"But you're new here." Parvati exclaimed. "What if you get hurt?"

"Let someone else go first." Lavender added.

"If I didn't know any better I would say that you're worried for a Slytherin." Percy told the two girls, giving them a cheeky grin, and both girls blushed and started to stutter out that they weren't worried. Draco and the other Sytherins snickered at the blushing girls as Percy placed his book and side bag on the ground and climbed the paddock fence.

"Good lad - Johnathan, isn't it?" He nodded at the big man. "Yeh look like yer parents." Percy turned red at the compliment but didn't say anything as Hagrid went to unchain one of the hippogriffs. It was the gray one. "Alright then, let's see how well yeh get along with Buckbeak." Oddly enough Buckbeak didn't even wait for Percy to bow before the creature charged at my brother.


	14. Chapter 14

**Percy's PoV.**

Buckbeak charged straight at me when Hagrid unchained the hippogriff. I managed to step to the side before I was trampled. Shocked gasps sounded from outside the paddock and Hagrid was trying to get the hippogriffs attention while he closed the distance between himself and the hippogriff as the creature whirled to face me again. The hippogriff reared up and brought it's talons down towards my head but I stepped back just in the nick of time to avoid losing one of my eyes. I put my hands up to show that I wasn't going to hurt it but it squawked at me, buffeting me with its wings in the process.

_You think you can just come in here and expect to ride me, sea spawn? _It said to me and I was slightly surprised that I could understand the squawking, but it was half horse after all, so I guess it made a bit of sense that I could speak to it just like any other horse. _Well, think again because I will not let some half-brained sea brat on my back. So you can just leave before I trampled you._

"I'm not going to ride you." I told him. "I'm not a big fan of flying." The hippogriff calmed down a bit at that before regarding me with one of its orange eyes.

_That won't stop me from trampling you if you so much as think about getting on my back._

"I'll keep that in mind."

_You better_, Buckbeak glared at me. Hagird stood a few feet behind the hippogriff now, ready to intercede if Buckbeak tried to hurt me again.

"Yeh alright, Johnathan?" the giant asked me and I nodded my head, keeping my eyes on the hippogriff in front of me. "Yeh want ter continue?" another nod. "'Kay, so you'll want ter bow. Make sure ter keep eye contact and try not ter blink ter much." I saw Buckbeak roll his eyes a bit and that and I smiled a bit while I followed his instructions. After a moment he bowed back. "Very good, very good," Hagrid praised, "Now yeh can go up and pet him if yeh like."

_Pull out one of my feathers and you'll lose a limb._ Buckbeak squawked and I laughed at that but nodded and he let me pet him. His feathers were as soft and smooth as silk, shimmering slightly in the afternoon sun. He just let me stroke him for a few minutes as the rest of the class hesitantly entered the paddock and Hagrid unchained the other hippogriffs. Fortunately they didn't charge at my classmates or try to mutilate them with their talons. Draco, Pansy and Theodore came and joined me and Buckbeak. They looked weary though.

"It's ok guys, he won't hurt you…probably." I told them.

"That's very reassuring." Draco drawled sarcastically.

"Are you sure? Because it did try to kill you." Pansy pointed out.

_Excuse me,_ Buckbeak screeched, _I am not an 'it'. _They backed up quickly when the squawking started. _Yeah, that's right, be afraid._

"That's why I said probably." I said to my female friend, smiling slightly at them. "And Pansy, Buckbeak is a boy not an 'it'." The hippogriff nodded in agreement.

"Whatever." She muttered and I rolled my eyes at her. All around us people were in the stages of bowing to the other hippogriffs and petting them while Hagrid made his way around the paddock, making sure that everyone was doing fine and make sure the creatures didn't harm anyone. Neville was having a hard time with his hippogriff and I saw Harry and his friends trying to help out but his fear and shyness kept him backing away from the hippogriff at the slightest movement it made.

"I'll be back. All of you behave." I told my friends before heading over to the group of Gryffindors. "Hey guys, need some help?" They jumped a bit when they heard me and I had to hold back a smirk.

"Sorry but we would rather not be killed by a hippogriff." Ron growled at me and Hermione glared at him.

"Ronald, it is not his fault that that hippogriff charged at him."

"It still tried to kill him." The two of them started arguing with each other and Harry and Neville ignored them and turned towards me.

"I grateful for the offer, Percy, but I'm not like you. Your hippogriff charged straight at you _and_ tried to kill you and you didn't back down." Neville said looking down at the ground. "I get scared when it hasn't even done anything yet."

"Just because I didn't back down doesn't mean that I wasn't scared, Neville." I told him, and he snuck a glance up at me and I smiled at him. "It's ok to be afraid. That's the difference between bravery and courage. Being brave might mean that you have no fear but if you're not afraid of whatever it is you're doing then there's really no meaning to it. There is nothing to overcome. It also means that there is something you don't know and that could end up being very bad. Having courage is to have fear but not letting it stop you from moving forward. So summon up some Gryffindor courage and go pet that hippogriff. I know you have it in you." The shy boy just stared at me for a moment and Harry was looking at me with an unreadable expression.

"Do you really think that?" Neville asked with a bit of hope coloring his tone.

"Of course I do and don't you go forgetting it either." I told him sternly but with a good natured smiled and he smiled back.

"Thanks Percy." He said and after a moment turned back the hippogriff with slightly more confidence than he had before.

"That was nice of you to say." Harry told me as we watch Neville bow to their hippogriff and after a few moments it bowed back to him and I smile at the look of shock and excitement on his face as he slowly went up and started to pet the creature.

"It's the truth and I'll have you know that I am a very nice person." I said to him and he gave me a pointed look. "Just not when I'm in a bad mood."

"So what had you in a bad mood today?"

"Oh, you know, still feeling some of the residual effects from the dementor from yesterday, not getting much sleep last night, and of course it being the first actual day of school…and I didn't have breakfast but that was my fault for not wanting to get out of bed." I said and he thought about that for a moment. Ron and Hermione stopped their arguing long enough to go get acquainted with the hippogriff, though Ron kept throwing me glares.

"Ok I can understand how that could leave you in a foul mood. I just hope it doesn't end up being a daily occurrence, otherwise you'll end up getting a lot of detentions." My brother replied with a slight smile.

"Not to mention a lot of angry housemates if any points are lost with the giving out of those detentions." I added cheerfully and he laughed a bit at that.

"I don't envy you for that, but I can tell you that I've been in that situation before. It was not fun."

"I'll bet. You'll have to tell what happened sometime." He gave me a calculating look at that.

"One condition," I raised an eyebrow at him, "you have to tell me about the time when you've gotten into the most trouble at your old school." I laughed at that. "What? Did you not get into trouble at your old school?"

"Oh, no, I got into loads of trouble at all of my old schools. So there's a lot to choose from." That invoked a look from him that clearly said 'you've been to more than one school'. "Anyway, I should probably get back over to Draco and the others. Make sure they don't do anything to disrupt class. Unintentional or not."

"Yeah, that does seem like something Draco would do." Harry agreed reluctantly.

"See you later." I said before making my way back over to find Draco and the others petting Buckbeak and talking with each other. As I got closer I could make out what they were saying. They haven't noticed me yet. When I was just a few yards away I heard Draco say something to the gray hippogriff.

"See you're not so bad are you, you big chicken." The blonde boy sneered. Buckbeak squawked with indignation using a few choice words to describe the blonde and reared up on his hind legs. Without another thought I leaped forward and just barely managed to push Draco out of the way of Buckbeak's talons. However, I wasn't so lucky and I could feel the talons rip through my robes and tare though my side. Draco and I fell to the ground while the other students started shouting. Heavy foot falls came our way. Just as Buckbeak was about to strike again Hagrid appeared next to the hippogriff and managed to wrestle him back into the leather collar and lead him over to the other side of the paddock and re-chained the creature to the fence.

"Dear Merlin, Percy! Are you alright?" Pansy asked as she knelt down next to me. When I tried to move pain flared up on my side like flames but I managed not to scream. "Percy?"

"Well, that hurt." I said giving her a small smile before cringing from the pain in my side with every breath I took. All of the other kids had crowed around us but Hagrid came over and told them to move back.

"Yeh alright lad?" He asked me and I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something really sarcastic, it wasn't his fault that I was hurt after all.

"Yeah, still breathing, which I like to consider a good thing." I answered him after a moment and forced myself to sit up despite the pain it caused me.

"You're bleeding!" Draco exclaimed, looking slightly green at the sight of my blood.

"No, you think." I growled at him and he flinched.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, looking at the ground. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to Buckbeak, he's the one you insulted." I told him as I slowly got to my feet. A few of the others started to tell me that I shouldn't get up but I didn't listen to them. Almost immediately the world started to spin and I nearly fell, only to be caught by Hagrid and he lifted me into his arms.

"Let's get yeh ter the hospi'al wing. Class dismissed!" Hagrid started running and the swaying and jostling gave me vertigo so I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing evenly. After what seemed like forever, but was only about ten minutes or so, I was set down on a soft surface and I opened my eyes to see white walls and a couple dozen beds. The nurse lady from last night came bustling over to me.

"What happened?" she demanded of Hagrid as she started to check me over and quickly honed in on the slashes in my blood-stained robes.

"Draco apparently thought it was a good idea to call Buckbeak a chicken and I push him away from the angry hippogriff." I answered her before Hagrid could. "I wasn't lucky enough to also avoid the talons." My mind was starting to go fuzzy from blood loss. The nurse took out her wand and murmured something under her breath that I couldn't make out and the pain in my side started to fade and I could feel the wounds start to close. It felt a bit weird to be healed by magic different from my water healing and Nectar and Ambrosia.

"Really, Rubeus? Hippogriffs for your first class? Isn't that a bit much?" she asked the giant while she worked.

"I thought it'd be a good firs' lesson." He replied, sounding upset.

"I liked it." I told him.

"Yeh just sayin' that ter make me feel better. Yeh could have been killed. I shoulda been payin' more attention."

"Even if you had, you couldn't have stopped Draco from saying what he did. Nor could you have stopped Buckbeak from retaliating. Someone woold hav' still ended up hert." I could hear my words starting to slur and I could feel myself starting to fall asleep. "Though you shud hav' 'eard what Buck'eak called 'im in return." I smiled as I recalled what the hippogriff had squawked at the blonde boy for calling him a chicken. "'ake me up fer din'er." I said and let the darkness of sleep claim me.


	15. Chapter 15

**Draco's PoV.**

Dusk was falling outside as I worked on my homework, waiting for Percy to wake up. It was mostly silent in the hospital wing. I could hear Madam Pomfrey moving about in her office and Percy's soft breathing as he slept. Madam Pomfrey assured me that he would be alright but I was still worried that he would no longer want to be my friend; I didn't have many of those to begin with and I didn't want to lose one of the few I did have.

After the incident Snape gave me a lecture about putting myself in danger and getting a fellow classmate injured, as well two weeks of detention. I don't mind the detentions because they'll be easier to deal with than having Percy hate me. I know it was stupid of me to anger the hippogriff but I was slightly jealous of Percy for having the guts to face down a charging beast. Anyone else would have high tailed it out of there, if they didn't freeze up out of fear like I did. If he hadn't pushed me out of the way it would be me lying in an infirmary bed, that's if it hadn't of killed me.

Sighing, I finished up my Charms homework, leaving me with my Arithmancy homework to do later. Arithmancy was one of the only classes that I didn't have with Crabbe and Goyle, they weren't dumb by any means. They just didn't have the mind for Arithmancy. It was a pretty interesting class so far; I only wished I didn't have it with Granger. But as long as she leaves me alone it shouldn't be too horrendous. I'm not really against muggleborns, I only make fun of her whenever Potter and her boyfriend are around to piss them off, but that doesn't mean I'll talk to her when they're not with her.

The doors to the Hospital wing slowly opened, pulling me out of my thinking. In shuffled Longbottom, who had stopped by a couple of hours ago to check on Percy. Not feeling like talking to him I just put my homework into me bag and started going over the next chapter for Charms. For the first few minutes the Gryffindor ignored me and I him.

"Are you okay, Draco?" I looked up and found Neville looking at me worriedly and slightly hesitant.

"I'm fine!" I snapped at him. "Why do you care?"

"W-well, a hippogriff did try to kill you and you haven't left the hospital wing for a few hours now. You barely spoke to the other Slytherins when I saw them in here earlier. I know we are in rival houses but you're still just as much a kid as I am, even if you don't show it." He replied softly. I wanted to deny what he said but I found I couldn't so I just glared at him. "I j-just thought I'd ask."

"Did you think to ask that yourself or did someone have to dare you to?" I growled, wanting him to leave me alone. "You don't seem the type of person to even look at a Slytherin without cowering in fear."

"It's ok to be afraid." I glared at him some more and I could tell that he was scared of me and wanted nothing more than to ran away. However, he stood his ground, though I didn't know why.

"Did Potter tell you that?" I sneered at the Gryffindor boy.

"Percy did," He answered promptly. "Shortly before he saved you from the hippogriff." That brought me up short and I looked over at my injured housemate. Would Percy say the same thing to me if he learned of my cowardice? I don't see why he would say something like that to me. Slytherins aren't brave; strength is not how we win things. We win by sneaking around the edges, paying people off, threats and blackmail, anything that is even remotely considered immoral, wrong, cunning, ambitious, etc.

"Well he clearly doesn't have much experience with the darker pureblood families." I muttered under my breath as I looked down at the ground. Neville didn't say anything for a few minutes, which made me both glad and worried as I didn't know if he had heard me or not.

"It's almost dinner time." Madam Pomfrey said, startling both of us as she came out of her office. "You boys should run along." I was about to protest but someone spoke before I could.

"Awesome! What is for dinner? I'm frickin' hungry." We all glanced over to Percy and I tried not to smile when I saw him sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You, young man, aren't going anywhere. That injury was rather nasty and you need to rest while you recover. Drink this it will help with the pain." The mediwitch said handing the injured boy a goblet. Percy looked like he was about to protest but the witch gave him a stern look and he did as he was told and drank the potion.

"That tastes awful." He commented as he handed the goblet back. "I think I would almost prefer to be in pain than drink anything else that tastes like that again."

"Hopefully you'll reframe from getting injured in the future so you won't have to take it. Your dinner will be brought to you soon enough. For now you are to lie back down, so as not to strain yourself." My fellow Slytherin sighed before flopping back down on the bed, closely followed by a grimace of pain. "I said to lay down, Mr. Potter, not flop down carelessly as if you haven't been severely hurt." Poppy Pomfrey said with a huff.

"Just making sure I was still alive and this is not my eternal punishment." The raven haired boy assured her with a slight smile.

"Yes, yes, very amusing." She said giving him a slight glare before turning to Neville and I. "You two boys can head down to dinner."

"Can we have a few minutes to talk with Percy?"' Neville asked her hopefully.

"Who's Percy?" Pomfrey asked slightly bewildered and Percy helpfully raised his hand. "I am quite confident that your name is Johnathan Potter, Mr. Potter."

"Hmm, I could have sworn it was Peter Johnson, seeing as how that's what my camp director called me all summer. However, I have been going by Percy Jackson for the past twelve years, so I would much prefer people to call me that."

"Alright then Mr. Jackson, you have five minutes with Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Longbottom." With that she left us and started to straighten things up around the place.

"How much of our conversation did you hear?" I demanded of the boy lying down on the hospital bed.

"What? No 'Thanks for saving my sorry butt' or 'I'm glad you're not dead'? Only 'How much did you hear'? I feel so loved." He replied with sarcasm and I glared at him, because I was not about to let him make me feel guilty.

"Percy," I growled in warning.

"I came to right around the point of you two still being kids." The sarcasm was gone from his voice.

"How are you feeling?" Neville asked him. "Fred and George dropped by to see you earlier, by the way, but you were asleep."

"I'll be fine, and be honest; is my hair pink and or my face drawn on? If yes, then let Fred and George know I'll get them back."

"Your hair is still black and your face is clean." I informed him impatiently. "And I thought you said they weren't that bad."

"They're not, but that doesn't mean they'll pass up a chance to prank someone." Percy replied with a shrug.

"I doubt that they would prank a friend." Longbottom told him, though he did sound slightly unsure.

"A friendly word of warning; no prankster is above pranking their friends. That's how the fun prank wars are started. A friend pranking the friend that pranked them for pranking them."

"That made no sense." Both Neville and I said at the same time and I tried not to focus on how irritating that was.

"Yup."

"We should probably leave you to get some more rest and we'll come back to visit tomorrow and hopefully you'll make more sense." The Gryffindor told the injured Slytherin who apparently wasn't listening anymore.

"We should have a prank war. Just think of how awesome it would be if it were between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Forget quidditch, that would be a match worth seeing; which House is the best at pranking. Plus, the rivalry between our Houses would just make it all the more entertaining." While Percy was rambling Madam Pomfrey came over and shooed us away.

"See you tomorrow, Percy." I told him as I grabbed my bag and textbook.

"I hope you feel better soon." Neville said to him as we both turned to leave.

"I'm serious about the prank war!" He shouted at us as we neared the door.

"Goodnight, Jackson." I called back to him.

"Gred and Forge will do a prank war with me." Was the last thing I heard as the doors closed behind us. Even though Percy could no longer see me, I rolled my eyes at him. I glanced over at Neville to see what he thought of Percy's last remark and I couldn't decipher the look on his face.

"What?" I demanded of the Gryffindor.

"I just don't get how or why Percy ended up in Slytherin. He's much too happy and outgoing. Though he does occasionally get melancholy and he doesn't like talking about more personal things, but that doesn't mean… I know he's not ambitus or cunning or…or dark, unless I misjudged him." He paused for a moment as he thought about what to say next. "Are the people in your House there because they are dark or do they go dark because they're sorted there?" I stopped walking and looked at the Gryffindor to see if he was being sincere or not as I thought about his question; he stopped too, waiting. I was surprised to see that he was genuinely curious. This was the first time someone ever asked me, or any Slytherin as far as I know, that question so I had to think about the answer.

"There are some people in Slytherin that aren't very good people and they delight in hurting others. Some are decent people but aren't afraid of standing up for themselves, violently if needed, when threatened. A few are just afraid to get disinherited by their families if they're not sorted into Slytherin. Others are ambitus or cunning but they don't go on to do bad things. I think Slytherin is the House of the darker aspects of human nature, but they're not necessarily bad aspects to have. It depends on what you use them for that makes them, as Gryffindors say, 'evil'. Being evil is a choice. We may be on the darker side of human nature but that doesn't make us evil. So I guess the answer to your question would be yes, we are sorted there because we're dark, and yes, some are consumed by the darkness and they go on to do terrible things, but that doesn't mean all of us do." I answered him after a minute or so.

"I guess that makes sense…I never really thought of it like that. But that still doesn't explain why Percy is a Slytherin."

"He's resourceful, that's what the Sorting Hat told him. He is also loyal and courageous. So he could have ended up in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor if he hadn't insulted the Hat and forced it out of his head. You could probably ask him about that later." I quickly added when I saw the questioning look on his face. "I just hope he's resourceful enough to survive in Slytherin for the next few years until graduation. Not many of my House mates are pleased that Potter has a brother or that he's in our House."

"How do you feel about it? I know that Harry wasn't entirely thrilled about Percy being sorted into your House. I've gotten to know him in the few weeks he spent with my grandmother and I. So, even though he's in Slytherin I'll look past that because he's a friend. Fred and George are mainly excited that they get to corrupt a Snake and convert him entirely unto the 'Art of Pranking'. So, what do you think about it?" It still surprised me that he wasn't shaking with fear, like he normally did, as he spoke with me which was probably why I was still talking with him civilly.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'll admit that I was surprised when it was announced that he is Potter's brother and even more so when he was sorted into Slytherin. The Potters have always been Gryffindors, just like all Malfoys have been Slytherins." I answered hesitantly to the more personal question. "Did you know Percy's a parselmouth?"

"Yes, he didn't even know until he got Tia that he could talk to snakes so it was a surprise to us and the twins. Tia is his snake." He informed me with a slight smile.

"We've been introduced. Not quite sure how I feel about sleeping in the same room as a snake that could easily kill me in my sleep, but Percy said she won't do anything like that. Something about sleeping food is no fun because you can't play with it. Any idea what that's about?" I gave him a slight glare and he just shrugged.

"Tia looks intimidating but she's nice…for a snake. She apparently kind of has a twisted sense of humor, too."

"Sounds delightful." I said with sarcasm, rolling my eyes. "Nice chatting with you Longbottom but we're late for dinner. And I swear if anyone finds out that I was even _remotely_ civil to you, I will hex you into next month. Are we clear?" Regaining my usual sneer and condescending tone. The Gryffindor looked slightly shock at my abrupt change in attitude but nodded nonetheless. "Good." With that I marched off in the direction of the Great Hall.


	16. Chapter 16

**Percy's PoV.**

A little after I finished eating dinner, alone in the hospital wing, Professors Dumbledore, Severus, McGonagall, and Hagrid, who still looked upset, entered and made their way over to where I was. Madam Pomfrey stopped them half way giving the Headmaster a hard glare.

"Headmaster I know what you're thinking but Mr. Jackson needs his rest. He suffered a very serious injury today and does not need anyone badgering him with questions." The Matron told him sternly.

"It will only take a few minutes, Poppy." Dumbledore assured her with a kind, grandfatherly smile. I didn't know what to think of the Headmaster. After a few moments of contemplation she gave him a warning and let them pass. "How are you feeling, Mr. Potter."

"I've been better." I told him, shrugging and ended up wincing from the movement. "But I have had worse, so..."

"What could possibly be worse than nearly being killed by a hippogriff?" Professor McGonagall asked sounding slightly irritated.

"I think actually being killed by a hippogriff counts as worse." I told her with a straight face and when she glared at me I gave her a smile. "But good thing that didn't happen to me, right?"

"It's curious that you should choose to save another's life at the cost of your own when no other Slytherin would have done the same." The Headmaster stated before McGonagall could reply. "That's more of a Gryffindor trait, wouldn't you say?"

"Is it wrong to have some traits from the other Houses as well as from my own?" I asked him in reply to his question.

"Not at all, my dear boy. In fact, I, myself believe that those who personify all of the Houses' characteristics will be a force to be reckoned with, good or bad." He gave me a grandfatherly smile before giving me a stern look. "However, it was a very foolish thing to do, putting your life in danger like that Mr. Potter."

"Thanks for the input, but I figured that out myself a few hours ago as I was slowly bleeding out." I commented dully.

"This is not a matter to be taken lightly, Johnathan. You could've died. Do you have any idea how severe your injuries were?" Snape demanded harshly.

"Bad?" I guessed and he gave me a harsh look.

"If you had been any closer to that hippogriff than you were…you wouldn't be here with us now." He said slowly, trying to control his temper. "That beast –"

"Buckbeak ain't no beast." Hagrid interrupted but a glare from Snape made him look back down at the ground.

"Your ribs were sliced completely through and your lung was grazed. Any farther and your lung would have also been ripped into as well and you would have been dead before Hagrid even got you halfway here, that's even with him running." My head of house growled out.

"So, bad." I summed up and my godfather had to take several deep breaths to calm himself.

"What were you even thinking when you jumped in front of that hippogriff, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall demanded as Severus tried to regain control of his emotions.

"Something along the lines of 'I'm probably crazy for doing this' and 'this is so going to hurt'." I answered her honestly. "Turned out that both were spot on." None of the professors spoke for a few moments.

"Well, it seems as though you inherited your father's bravery and knack for getting injured. I had rather hoped you had inherited your mother's intelligence." The strict transfiguration teacher finally commented.

"How is Draco?" I asked as a change in topic. "He seemed fine when I spoke to him before dinner, but…"

"Mr. Malfoy is unharmed." Dumbledore answered before my Head of House could. "He admitted to provoking the hippogriff that you saved him from and has accepted the consequences of his actions."

"He's not going to be expelled is he?" I had to ask the old professor.

"No, he is not being expelled." Severus answered me, mostly calm again.

"Is Buckbeak going to be…" I paused for a beat, "nothing's going to happen to him, right?"

"Your concern for Buckbeak is touching, and it was a provoked attack that led to your injury. However, seeing as it-"

"He," I corrected the old man, who went on as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Tried to attack you at the beginning of the class for no apparent reason-"

"Buckbeak just doesn't like the scent of sea water, which I apparently smell like. So he didn't try slicing me to ribbons for 'no apparent reason'." Once again I interrupted him and the twinkle in his eyes died down a bit. "Plus, he kind of thought that I was going to pull out one of his feathers. So Hagrid for your next class you might want to warn your students about not pulling out a hippogriff's feathers."

"How would you know that?" McGonagall huffed, apparently not liking my interruptions either.

"Because I heard him say it quite clearly. Or rather something along those lines, anyway." I told her and the professors all seemed shocked at that. "What?"

"You can understand them?" Severus asked, sounding like he would rather not know the answer to his question.

"Yeah, why? Is that not something that's common among the wizarding community?" None of them answered me. Though, that wasn't all that surprising since I got that skill from Poseidon so I doubt anyone else here has the ability, but I wasn't about to tell them that bit of information. "I'll take that as a 'no'." I sighed and looked down at the bed I was situated on before grumbling. "Great, now I'm even more of a freak." Someone jerked my chin up and suddenly I was staring into the dark eyes of my godfather.

"You are not a freak, Johnathan. Just because you can do things that others can't does not make you a freak. I want you to forget that word, have I made myself clear?" He said firmly.

"Crystal." I answered him, just barely keeping myself from saying something else that would have made Severus even angrier. "Can you let go of me now?" He studied me for a moment before letting go of my chin and stepping back.

"Alright, now, you've kept the boy up long enough. All of you need to leave." Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office and started shooing the professors out of the hospital wing. When they were at the door I called out.

"Hey, Hagrid," the giant turned back to look at me, "also, for your next class maybe you should just have a few hippogriffs, just in case." I told him giving him a reassuring smile. He managed to give me a small smile in return and then they were gone and Madam Pomfrey returned to my side. She handed me a couple of vials and told me to drink the contents of both before lying back down to sleep. As I started to drift off to sleep I heard the doors open again and there was a hushed conversation before the doors closed again and silenced reigned once more and sleep fell over me.

Sometime in the night I was jolted awake by a noise. It sounded like the hospital wing doors closing but I couldn't think of who would be coming in at this time of night. I turned over so I could look around, there was no one there. So someone must have been leaving then? Though somehow I knew that wasn't the case as I could sense that there was someone there in the darkness. That or I'm dreaming, either works for the moment. In the silence I could hear soft footsteps approaching my bed.

For a horrible moment my thoughts drifted to Sirius Black and how he would want both me and my brother dead and I wondered if he was the one sneaking in here. My fears were slightly increased when a figure suddenly became visible in the dim light of the moon and stars seeping in through the windows. As it got closer I could see that it was only my brother, though how he managed to just appear out of nowhere like that I had no idea.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" I asked him softly and he froze, apparently not expecting me to be awake.

"I wanted to see if you were all right. I tried to come see you after dinner but Madam Pomfrey said you needed to rest and you weren't allowed anymore visitors until tomorrow." He whispered back.

"You could have come by before dinner with Neville." I told him.

"Draco was in here and I didn't want to deal with him." From his tone I could tell that there was more to the story.

"Right, of course you didn't." I muttered sarcastically.

"Okay, so Hermione didn't want me near Draco because she didn't want me to get in trouble for hexing him into next week for getting you hurt. Which I might still end up doing anyway tomorrow in Potions class, consequences be damned." I could hear the anger and hate in his voice.

"Why do you and Draco hate each other, anyway?" I couldn't help but ask. My brother sighed after a moment before sitting down on the bed next to mine.

"It was before first year. When Hagrid took me to Diagon Alley to get all my school things. I met him while we were both getting fitted for our robes and he started insulting Hagrid and he also said a few things about muggleborns that weren't very nice. Of course neither of us told the other our names, I think he was just too arrogant to think that someone didn't know who he was and after hearing the insults he was saying I didn't feel like telling him who I was. I noticed that people tend to treat you differently if they know you're famous and I didn't really want him to know, though it probably would have got him to shut up."

"Somehow I don't think that would have worked out in your favor." I commented dryly.

"You're probably right. Anyways, September 1st came around and I was on the train heading for Hogwarts and he showed up at my compartment wanting to be friends after he just insult my new friend and his family. I've hated him ever since and that hatred has only increased over the past two years."

"So what's Ron's problem with him?"

"Well his and Draco's fathers don't exactly get along and so they don't either. There are rivalries between Pureblood families almost like the rivalry between the school houses. Some believe in blood supremacy and others are pro-muggles and muggleborns." Harry stopped talking after that and I just laid there thinking about what he said. Two kids hating each other because their parents do, why does _that_ sound familiar?

"They do realize that they aren't their parents, right?" I asked Harry after a minute or so of silence.

"What do you mean?" my brother demanded softly, sounding slightly confused.

"I mean, do they even acknowledge the fact that they are separate individuals from their parents? Just because their parents hate each other doesn't mean they have to." I elaborated. "Have you even tried telling them that?"

"No, it's never really occurred to me before to look at it like that but I'll save the 'telling them that' part to you. I'm pretty sure I know what they're going to say anyway and none of it will be complementary towards you."

"Well maybe from Ron, but unlike him Draco actually likes me." I informed my little brother. "So far anyway. He at least puts up with me."

"What makes you think Ron doesn't like you?" he asked me.

"One, I'm new here. Two, I speak to snakes. Three, I'm a Slytherin. Four, whatever other reason that I don't know."

"You don't like quidditch."

"What?" I looked at him confused, even though he probably couldn't see me very well in the dim light.

"For your forth reason Ron doesn't like you; you don't like quidditch."

"Yeah that too I guess. Though, that's an even stupider reason to hate someone than your parents hating each other."

"Well you are right about him not liking you and about the reasons he doesn't like you. Maybe with time and once he gets to know you better he'll start to lighten up around you."

"Lighten up, not necessarily like." I huffed. "What if I told him to stop being such a drama queen and get over himself?"

"I don't think it will work out in your favor." I could hear the smirk in his voice as he used my own words against me.

"Most likely not but it will make me feel better if I told him to stuff it." I heard him try to hold back a laugh. "But I think I'll hold off on that for a bit, give him a chance, even if he won't give me one."

"Well, I think I'm starting to see why you're friends with Neville. But there's something I don't quite understand about you." Harry said slowly.

"I know."

"You know?" he sounded surprised at my reply.

"Well we did only meet each other. It would be a little presumptuous to expect to know everything about one another in such a short amount of time."

"I guess you're right…again." Defeat colored his tone. "Why did you start speaking parseltongue in Divination class today? Why not just speak in English?"

"I don't like when people demand to know my private thoughts. They are _private_ thoughts after all, as in they're not meant to be shared. Speaking in English, you're friend Ron would have heard what I said and he was one of the ones that I knew was judging me because I'm in the House of Snakes. If I were in any other House I doubt he would have as much of a problem with me, but...as it is…" I sighed before continuing, "I didn't ask to be in Slytherin, I don't even know if I _wanted _to be in Slytherin. That's just where the Hat put me since I may have pissed it off a bit.

"I've been picked on enough throughout the years to be able to tell what it is about me that people don't like about me, but Ron…he hates me for something that doesn't…he's assuming things about me that aren't…how is his hatred of Slytherin my fault? I only just got here, and he's taking out his anger on me. How is that right?" My voice started to weaver at the end of my rant and I felt myself choke on my breath. Tears started to find their way down my cheek and I realized that I was crying. Really crying for the first time in years and it was over something that shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But to me it was a big deal, maybe after all these years of keeping the tears in, the dam has finally broke.

"Hey, are you crying? Oh, Merlin, you are. Percy, it's not right, it's not right. Of course it's not right for him to do that to you. Please stop crying. I don't know how to deal with crying." I could hear Harry saying desperately but he sounded like he was trying to talk to me through a waterfall. Well, he might have been considering how much I was crying.

"That makes two of us." I managed to choke out with a weak laugh but the tears refused to stop. It was a few minutes later when I vaguely felt my bed shift a bit and a hand started rubbing circles on my sore back. Rather than it hurting it felt soothing and warm, oddly enough. A while later I finally calmed down enough to register that it wasn't my brother who was sitting next to me but Madam Pomfrey. She was in her nightgown with a robe thrown over it. Looking at her face I couldn't see any anger for having woken her up at this time of night. Only concern and a little bit of motherly love. "Sorry if I woke you, ma'am." I said softly.

"That's quite alright, dear. Are you in any pain? I can get you another pain relieving potion if you are, the one I gave you earlier should have started wearing off by now." she asked, speaking just as softly as I did.

"I fine for now. Can I get some water though?"

"Of course," she got up and came back a minute later with a glass of water which I had to sit up to drink. The coolness of the water soothed my rough throat and also helped to take away some of the soreness in my side and back. As she took back the empty glass she noticed my arm. "My goodness child, you're covered in goosebumps! Why didn't you tell me you were cold?" she didn't give time to answer before she waved her wand and I felt warmth flood over me and I relaxed a bit. "That's better. Anything else?" I shook my head, feeling more exhausted than I did earlier. "Alright, but know that you can ask me if you need anything. I am here to help."

"Thank you." I told her with a slight smile which she returned.

"You're welcome, Mr. Jackson. Now go back to sleep. You still need to rest."

"Kay." I said as I carefully lay back down and pulled my cover back up around me. Madam Pomfrey made sure I was comfortable before heading back to her office.

"Goodnight, Percy." Harry whispered softly to me. I couldn't see him though. Hmm, I wonder if he has something like Annabeth's hat that could turn him invisible.

"Goodnight, Harry." I whispered back, slightly surprised that he was still there. "Will you come see me tomorrow?"

"Yes," came the short reply before footsteps headed towards the exit. Through the darkness I could make out the hospital wing doors opening and closing on their own accord.

**Sorry everyone for the long wait for the update. I have no excuses. I just did not feel much like writing anything for the past month or so. Again, sorry. Hope you all enjoy this chap.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Harry's PoV.**

Last night, sneaking out in the middle of the night to see Percy seemed like a good idea so I could finally talk with him, just the two of us. Him being half asleep while talking with me was a bit amusing…until he started gasping for breath like he couldn't breathe properly and I saw the tears running down his face. The things my brother said about having to deal with judgmental people at his other schools and that the same thing was going on here made me angry at, not only Ron, but everyone, including myself.

My entire childhood was spent being rejected and mistreated by others because of my relative's hatred for me. How could I have let myself do that to anyone? To base my friendships off of how little I actually know people. Draco didn't know that my mother was a muggleborn when he made those comments about them when I first met him in Diagon Alley. Ron was only my friend because he sat with me on my first train ride here to Hogwarts and I wanted a friend. Hermione wasn't my friend until the troll incident first year because both Ron and I thought she was really bossy and a showoff know-it-all.

It did cross my mind a few times that Percy might just be trying to manipulate me, and that it might actually be working. Then I remind myself that he was friends with Neville so he couldn't be all bad. He pushed Draco away from that hippogriff when he didn't have to, knowing that he could possibly be killed in doing so. At least, I hope Percy knew how dangerous that was when he did it; otherwise I might have to have a serious talk with him.

After leaving the hospital wing last night I was unable to fall asleep as my conversation with my brother kept me up thinking until morning came. The lack of sleep wasn't doing me any favors today in potions class as Hermione had to keep me from messing up too badly several times already and we were only thirty minutes into the class.

"Are you alright, Harry? You seem really out of it this morning." My female friend said as she grabbed my hand to stop me from cutting my fingers off as I sliced my daisy roots. With a shake of my head I put down my knife and looked up at Hermione's concerned face.

"I didn't get much sleep last night and I've got a lot of things on my mind. Not to mention that I'm really worried about Percy." I told her, not telling her about sneaking out to see him. Who knows if the Slytherins or Snape were listening in. She seemed to understand because she gave me a reassuring smile.

"We'll go see Percy during lunch, then." She replied and I sent her a small smile and nodded. "But right now you need to focus on your potion making so as not to cut off your fingers or make your cauldron blow up."

"Right, sorry. Will do." I muttered and turned back to my daisy roots. By the end of class I had managed to brew a decent potion. Neville had to be threatened by Snape that his potion was going to be tested on his toad at the end of class as motivation for getting his potion right. Hermione did help him out, though, but lost points because of it. Anyways, I was ready for lunch. Or, rather, the chance to see my brother while he's hopefully not half asleep. As we left Ron started to grumble about how awful Snape was today. I ignored him for the most part as we left the dungeons behind us for the day.

"Hey, where are you two going? The Great Hall is over there." Ron said as Hermione and I turned to go up to the hospital wing.

"We're going to go visit my brother. Aren't you coming?" I asked him, grimacing slightly at his harsh look. "Alright then, enjoy your lunch. See you in our next class." Without waiting for his response I started walking up the stairs away from the noise of the Great Hall. Hermione caught up to me after a minute.

"Harry?" she asked cautiously. "This is about more than being worried for Percy, isn't it?" I just nodded in reply, not really wanting to speak about it. "I'm sure that Ron will come around eventually, once he gets to know your brother better."

"But, Hermione, what if he doesn't?" I stopped walking and looked at her, desperate for reassurance. "I don't want to have to choose between my brother and my best friend." For a few moments she just stared at me before throwing her arms around me.

"Oh, Harry, Ronald just doesn't understand what it's like to be an only child. You just go right ahead and get to know your brother. If Ron can't learn to accept him then he'll have me to deal with, ok?" When she pulled away I gave her a small smile and a nod. "Let's get going then. If your brother is anything like you he will probably be bored out of his mind."

"Thanks Hermione." I told her and she smiled as she slipped her arm through mine and we started walking again. When we entered the hospital wing I was glad to see my brother sitting up and looked to be writing something. Briefly, he looked up and smiled at us when he heard the doors open and close before returning to what he was working on. Madam Pomfrey shot us a warning look when she saw us enter before turning back to a sixth year Hufflepuff who appeared to have a broken arm or wrist.

"Hullo, Percy." Hermione greeted him kindly when we got close enough to him. "What are you working on?"

"Hey, Hermione, I'm working on a potions assignment, you know, since I wasn't able to go to class today." He replied as he finished off a sentence and set his quill down.

"Snape's still making you do work even though you're in here?" I asked him, slightly surprised he would do that to one of his snakes.

"No, when he came by this morning before breakfast to check on me I asked him if there was something I could still do for class since I wouldn't be in there. And I didn't want to just sit in here doing nothing for the entire day. My ADHD would kill me before dinner." He said with a joking smile adorning his face. "So no Ron?"

"No, not today. What's the assignment?" I asked to avoid talking about Ron, last night's episode still fresh in my mind. "Nothing too difficult for you I hope."

"Not really, just a roll of parchment worth of an explanation of 'the importance of following directions exactly in the art of potion brewing'. Though I don't know why it needs to be so long when I can just sum it up into one sentence."

"Really? In just one sentence?" my female asked in awe.

"Yup."

"Tell me."

"It will end badly if you don't." he said with a proud smile at his own brilliance. I couldn't help but laugh at that because I was expecting a long and detailed sentence. Hermione just shook her head while a slight smile slipped onto her face.

"That is brilliant," I told him as soon as I calmed down enough to speak.

"Thanks," Percy said with a bright smile.

"You could also work on your spell work while you're in here. Help get you caught up and give you something to do while you're in here." Hermione suggested.

"I don't think I'm going to be in here that long." My brother commented.

"Well not all two years' worth of spells but some of the basics, like: levitation, light, repairing charms." She explained in a rush. "It was just a thought."

"No, that's a great idea actually. Could you show me how to do those ones?" came the excited reply from my brother.

"Sure." Hermione smiled and nodded. Percy put his potions assignment and quill on his bedside table and grabbed his wand. While Hermione started to explain the levitation charm to my brother I picked up his assignment and started reading what he had written. About three-fourths of the roll held carefully written words as if a lot of thought had gone into it.

What surprised me most about his work is that it was actually done better than you would expect from someone who had just been introduced to the wizarding world. In fact, it was better than what I could have done as a third year. He explained that getting a potion brewed correctly was important because if not than a healing potion could easily become a poison with one wrong ingredient. Or a sleeping draught could be rendered ineffective with too much or not enough of one thing or another. Even how the slightest mistake in the stirring could ruin whatever it was you were brewing. Heck, he even listed how missing a step in the directions could make your cauldron blow up or melt.

Something hitting me from the side made me look up from my brother's paper. All I saw was Percy with an innocent smile on his face and Hermione trying to suppress a laugh. With a small movement of his wrist Percy pointed his wand at me and I was hit again. It wasn't very hard or with anything heavy, it was after all just a pillow from one of the other beds, so I just sent my brother a slight glare.

"Ow," I muttered sound like it had actually hurt, rubbing my side for emphasis. With another flick of his wand the pillow hit me again. "Why do you hurt me so, brother?"

"Because you're reading my assignment and that is considered cheating in some schools." He replied haughtily, making the pillow hit me again, this time in the face. Hermione failed at keeping the laughter at bay after that. She wasn't the only one laughing either, a couple beds away the Hufflepuff guy was chuckling too.

"Mr. Jackson, stop hitting your brother with the pillow or I will ask him to leave." Madam Pomfrey said, walking up to us. The Hufflepuff having been fixed up. "It's almost the end of lunch so you two have a few more minutes before you have to leave. And don't be late for class."

"Don't worry Madam Pomfrey, we won't be." Hermione told her with a reassuring smile. The nurse nodded and went into her office. I grabbed the pillow from the air and tossed it back on the bed that Percy got it from.

"You're pretty good kid." Hufflepuff guy said walking over to us. "Most people have a hard time with that one their first tries and they're just trying to levitate a single feather. For you to get a pillow up after just a few tries and to keep it up is pretty impressive."

"What makes you think those were my first tries?" Percy asked him jokingly.

"I may have been listening in on your conversation." The guy answered sheepishly.

"Thank you for your honesty, uh..." Percy said but trail off, looking at the guy questioningly.

"Cedric Diggory," Cedric introduced himself, "May I ask why Madam Pomfrey called you Jackson? I could have sworn that Dumbledore said you were a Potter."

"I asked her to call me that. Yes, I'm a Potter but I prefer Percy Jackson because that the name I went by for the past twelve years. Though I suppose if people call me Johnathan for long enough I would get use to that name as well. But that doesn't mean I'll like it. What did you do to your arm?"

"What? Oh, I just fell off of my broom while I was practicing for quidditch tryouts." Diggory shrugged before pointing at me and Hermione. "You two need to head off to class, lunch is just about over. It's was nice meeting you John- sorry, Percy. Can I call you Johnathan?"

"Sure…maybe…I don't know. I'd still prefer to be called Percy. It was nice to meet you too, Cedric. Have fun in your next class, Harry. Oh, and Thanks Hermione for teaching me the spell. Can you show me some more later?" he asked her hopefully.

"Of course I will." Hermione answered with a smile.

"Here's your assignment back. You've done a good job with it so far. At least, I think so, Professor Snape might be a bit harder on you though." I told him handing him his parchment.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"Come on, off to class." Cedric ushered us out of the hospital wing.


	18. Chapter 18

**Percy's PoV.**

The next few days that I was in the hospital wing passed by relatively quickly. My brother and Hermione would come by stop by during lunch and at the end of their classes on Friday and in the morning after breakfast on Saturday. They took turns teaching me different spells and charms. Harry had even given me his _Standard Book of Spells one and two_ for me to study and get caught up. Ron still wouldn't come with them when they visit but I tried not to let his stubborn hatred get to me too much. Draco, Pansy, Theodore, and another Slytherin third year, a Blaise Zabini, would come by for a couple of hours before dinner. Those hours were spent with them telling me more about the wizarding world and helping me with the homework that Hermione and Pansy would bring me from the classes that I missed. Neville would also help me with the work whenever he stopped by. The twins started teaching me different spells that I could use to prank people. Those spells were fun to learn, especially when they let me use them on the two of them to make sure I was able to do them. Madam Pomfrey wasn't too thrilled with that, but oh well.

It was Sunday, right about lunch time, when I was finally able to leave the hospital wing. Excitedly, I ran most the way down to the dungeons before getting lost in the maze of halls. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your view point, I ran into my godfather (quite literally) as I tried to find my way around the dark corridors.

"Hey, Sev," I greeted him sheepishly as he caught me before I could tumble to the floor along with the books and papers I had been carrying. As soon as he let go of my arms I bent down and started collecting my scattered belongings.

"It would serve you well to look where you are going, Johnathan. Where are you off to in such a hurry?" He asked for the most part emotionlessly.

"Common room, but I kind of got lost on my there." I told him as I stood back up with all of my stuff in my arms again.

"And you didn't think to ask one of your housemates where it is?" he raised an eyebrow at me.

"You're the first Slytherin I've run into. Sorry about that, by the way. A second year Ravenclaw girl was nice enough to give me directions to the dungeons from the third floor though. She did also tell me that my head was full of wrackspurts or something like that. Apparently they make your brain fuzzy."

"That is not an acceptable excuse for your lack of-"

"I wasn't making an excuse; I was just telling you what she said. Big difference." I interrupted him and he scowled at me. "Which way to the common room?"

"Come with me, there are a few things I wish to discuss with you before you go and cause trouble in some other part of the school." He headed down the hall that I had just come from and I followed him, both of our footsteps echoing in the empty halls. After a few turns we came to a closed door which Severus opened and waved me inside. On the other side was an office with shelves of potions and ingredients lining the walls. A fire crackled in the fireplace. Sev closed the door behind us and he made his way over to the desk in the middle of the room. I silently followed him wondering what it was that he needed to talk to me about.

"Madam Pomfrey told me about your hand, though she was unable to tell me how it happened. She said you withheld that information from her," Severus started and I winced at the memory of Luke setting the pit scorpion on me. "Would you mind telling me how you managed to get stung by a pit scorpion?"

"It wasn't on purpose if that's what you're wondering." I told him, trying to keep my voice even. "What happened is a hard subject for me to talk about with people I hardly know or trust, so yes I would very much mind telling you or anyone else for that matter. All you need to know is that I'm still alive." My god father took a few steps in my direction but I backed away from him, not liking the expression on his face. "People aren't always who they seem to be." He paused in his advancement towards me. "Can we please not talk about it?"

"Johnathan, what happened that you don't want me to know?" Snape asked with a slightly softer tone. I stayed silent, glaring at the floor. Eventually, my god father sighed, finally getting the hint that I wasn't going to tell him anything else on the subject. "The other thing I wanted to talk to you about was your pet. I don't ever recall snakes being on the approved list of animals you can bring to school. There is also a rumor going around that you're a parselmouth. Is that true?"

"Technically there wasn't anything that explicitly stated that I couldn't bring a snake with me and yes I am able to speak the language of snakes. And before you ask, yes I know that it is considered dark magic and that very few people have the ability. Harry has the ability too, so at least we have that in common."

"The man who killed your mother could also speak to snakes. That's one of the reasons why most are scared of others whom have that talent as well."

"In that case I should have Tia teach me a few snake insults that I could say to that jerk if I ever meet him." I just shrugged at my god father when he glared at me.

"Hopefully you will never have to meet that monster."

"Always hope for the best, right?" Before he could reply the office door opened to reveal a slightly panicked Draco. Though I could see him visibly relax when he saw me.

"There you are. We went up to the hospital wing to visit you and Madam Pomfrey said that you had already left for the common room but when we got there you weren't there either. We thought you had gotten lost on your way down or those Weasley twins had kidnapped you." The blonde exclaimed, sounding slightly annoyed now that he wasn't panicking.

"Sorry, I did get a bit lost until I ran into Severus." I told him blushing slightly in embarrassment at the looks both Draco, exasperation, and Snape, irritation, shot me. "Well it's not entirely my fault that I haven't figured out where everything is yet. Sorry." I said again as Draco flinched at the reminder of why I hadn't gotten around the castle much.

"No, I deserved that. It was my fault you ended up getting hurt in the first place. I really sorry about that, by the way. I should have told you before but…" Draco looked down and his ears turned pink. "Thank you, for…um, you know…pushing me out of the way and…"

"You're welcome," I told him and I gave him a smile when he looked up at me. He gave me a small smile in return. "So," I turned back to my godfather, "is there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Not at the moment. Draco, show Johnathan the way to the common room so he doesn't get lost again. I'll see you both at dinner." Our professor dismissed us. I wasted no time in rushing to the open door but stopped and turned when I reached the threshold. Quickly I leafed through my homework and found my potions assignment. Severus looked a bit surprised when I handed it to him. "You know I told you that it didn't need to be handed in until your next potions class."

"Yeah but I might forget about it by then."

"Get going already. It's a nice day out for spending an afternoon by the lake. Go enjoy it while you can." Snape shooed both me and Draco out of his office.

"Come on, the common room is this way." The blonde said and started to lead me down a few halls and stopped at a blank expanse of wall. "Salazar." He said to the wall and it open to reveal the Slytherin common room. The furniture was all ebony and black leather. Green silk hung on the walls and the windows looked out at a great view…of the bottom of the Black Lake. There was barely anyone in the common room when we entered, just a few of the upper years that were either studying at the tables along the walls or chatting in front of the fireplace. I followed Draco to the third year boy's dorm were I was greeted by the rest of the boys and Pansy.

"Oh, thank goodness Draco found you." Pansy exclaimed as she hugged me. "Next time come find one of us to help you find wherever it is that you're going. We looked around all the main halls down here for you but you weren't anywhere so we sent Draco to find Professor Snape just in case you found your way somewhere you shouldn't have been. Getting lost down in the dungeons is very dangerous, Percy."

"Good thing Professor Snape found me before I got too lost then." I told her as she let me go and I put my books down on my bed.

_Welcome back, little one,_ Tia greeted me as she slithered over to me.

"Hi Tia, I've missed you these past few days. Have the other boys been treating you nicely?" I asked her as she made her way onto my bed and curled around my books.

_Yes,_ she replied, _but they are no good at holding a conversation with me so it was rather dull._

"Don't worry, Tia I'm back now so it won't be so dull anymore." I smiled at her.

_Well I certainly hope so._

"So, uh, Johnathan, how are you feeling today?" Blaise asked hesitantly. When I glanced over at him I saw a bit of apprehension and fear on his face as he looked at my snake.

"A bit sore but otherwise I'm okay. You do know that Tia won't hurt you, right?" I asked him in return and his eyes shot up to look at me, like a deer in the headlights.

"I-I know, I-I'm just not a big fan of s-snakes." He said, stuttering a bit over his words. "And what happened last year didn't help any."

"What happened last year?"

"A basilisk was set loose in the school. Several people got petrified and the Weasley girl was nearly killed." Theodore answered softly. "We don't know a lot about what happened though."

"Oh, ok. Yeah that must have been terrifying. So no teasing about being afraid of snakes, got it." I said as I started to rifle through my trunk for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "Be back in a bit." Ducking into the attached bathroom to get ready for the rest of the day. After a shower I was feeling much better than I was before. When I walked back into the dorm I found that they had started talking about quidditch. At first I didn't pay attention to what they were saying until I hear my name being said.

"Percy'd be a good chaser but he's afraid of heights so I don't know how I'm going to get him to try out for the team." Draco was telling the others, as they haven't noticed my return.

"Well, tryouts aren't until Saturday so we have until then to get him in the air. We'll figure it out, if he's as good as you hope he is it'll be worth the effort of getting him over his fear." Theodore commented. "If he's half as good as his father was when he was in school we might stand a chance against his brother."

"My father played chaser?" I spoke up and they all jumped.

"Jeez Percy don't do that." Draco grumbled.

"Do what? Ask questions?" I gave him a confused look.

"No, sneak up on people." He gave me a slight glare as I smiled at him innocently.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Draco. I did not sneak up on anyone. You just weren't paying attention." I informed him and Draco rolled his eyes at me. "Now do I get my question answered?"

"Yeah, he was. James Potter was one of the best chasers this school has probably ever had. He was a Gryffindor, like your brother. My father always hated James for being the better chaser, so the Gryffindor versus Slytherin games always got extremely competitive and violent. Well, they've always been that way but it was worse back then from the stories my father told me." Theo explained. "I think that James Potter holds the school record for the most amount of goals scored by a single person in a game."

"Really?" I couldn't help but ask as I went and sat down with them.

"I think he got fourteen goals. That really made my father angry since it was against our house. Gryffindor won the cup that year."

"Cup?" I inquired, a little confused. "Like a trophy?" they nodded.

"Which ever house team has the most points at the end of the season wins the cup. Sort of like with the House cup that gets awarded to the house with the most points at the end of the year." Blaise said helpfully, clearing that up.

"If there is one thing that both Slytherin and Gryffindor have in common it's how seriously we take quidditch." Draco added. "So, please, please, please try out for Slytherin. I'm begging you and Malfoys don't beg."

"I can't Draco. Even if I wasn't afraid of heights, my hand won't be healed enough to use by then. From what I've been told so far about quidditch is that the chasers have to catch and throw a ball around while flying a broomstick, I kind of need both hands for that don't I?" I pointed out.

"Yeah, but can't Madam Pomfrey just fix your hand?" Malfoy asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Do you think I'd still have bandages on my hand if she could?" I shot back at him. "I wish it were so simple, Draco, because I would really love to be able to use my dominate hand again but somethings…never mind." I stood up and went back over to my bed and put my shoes back on.

"Wait…you're right handed?" Goyle asked, sounding really confused. Looking back up at the others I saw various looks of shock and surprise.

"Yeah." I answered hesitantly.

"But you can write with your left hand?" Pansy pointed out, as if that disproved me being right handed.

"And your point is..?"

"How can you do that?" she asked sounding curious. "I'm right handed but I can't use my left hand to write."

"I broke my right wrist really badly when I was five and couldn't use my hand for almost two years and had to use my left hand for everything. When I could finally start using my right hand again is was difficult to use it for very long so I had to constantly switch back and forth between my two hands. I don't have as much of a problem now aside from my hand writing being better with my left hand than my right and my right wrist getting a bit stiff if I use it for too long. So I'm basically ambidextrous but I favor my right hand." I told her the story while the others listened in.

"That'd come in handy if you ever get into a dual and something happens to the hand your wand is in." Draco said after a few moments of silence.

"Thanks," I gave him a small smile, "Now let's go, I've been cooped up inside forever. I want to enjoy the good weather while it lasts."


	19. Chapter 19

**Percy's PoV.**

"Harry's not going to put up with you forever, snake." Ron hissed at me. "Eventually he's going to see you as the evil git you are."

"I am not evil." I intoned, trying to keep my temper in check while also attempting to ignore the redhead. It wasn't going very well.

"You're in Slytherin. Everyone knows that's Slytherins are pure evil." The Gryffindor boy sneered.

"You say that as if Gryffindors can do no wrong. As if you didn't purposefully try to kill me." I snapped back at him.

"SILENCE! Both of you get back to work, you insufferable children." Severus growled, not even looking up from the papers he was grading. The redhead boy immediately silenced his retort and aimed a glare at me before turning it to the floor he was currently scrubbing a few feet away from me. He grumbled something inaudible as he scrubbed with more force than strictly necessary.

"Jeez, Ronald, what did the floor ever do to you to deserve that type of treatment?" I asked the redheaded Gryffindor, feeling vastly sorry for the offended stones. "If you keep that up much longer there won't be anything left for us to stand on."

"Shut it, Jackson." Ron spat.

"You know, getting angry at me won't help you at all since it is entirely your own fault that you're stuck here right now." I informed him.

"You broke my nose!" the Gryffindor jumped to his feet.

"You sabotaged my potion." I stated as I scrubbed at a dark stain on the table.

"Need I constantly remind the two of you that there is to be no talking during your detention?" Snape spoke up from behind his desk at the front of the potions classroom, before Ron could say anything else. "Now for the last time, both of you get back to work and be quiet." Ronald started muttering under his breath as he got back down on his hands and knees. "If I hear another sound from you, Mr. Weasley, you'll find yourself with another week of detention at the very least." For the next hour, which was really only like twenty minutes, we all worked in silence. Ron finished with the floor and was excused to go to dinner, leaving me and my godfather alone. After another few minutes I finished and started to put away the cleaning supplies. As I was about to leave I heard my godfather call me over to his desk. So with great reluctance I made my way over to him and stood waiting for him to finish grading his last paper. With one final flourish he set his quill down and leveled a stern look at me.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?" he asked me with a cold tone.

"About what?"

"About your behavior today. It is completely unacceptable to show such disrespect to your professors and to your classmates. I will not have anyone from my House acting like an arrogant Gryffindor. You are a Slytherin and I expect you to behave as such. What do you have to say for yourself?" Severus demanded harshly and I had to force myself not to flinch.

"Weasley was asking for it, sir." I responded softly, trying my best to ignore my aching body and the pounding headache I've had all day.

"And what about all the other times today that I have been told you had snapped at one of your teachers or classmates?"

"I just wanted to be left alone today." I looked away from him and I heard him sigh. "Can I go now?" Exhaustion slowly creeping into my mind now that I wasn't doing anything as I waited for him to answer.

"Johnathan, is something bothering you?" Snape asked in a slightly less harsh tone.

"No," was my short reply but apparently he wasn't convinced. He got up and made his way around the desk so he could stand next to me.

"Johnathan?" he said, pulling at my chin to make me look at him, but whatever he was going to say seemed to fade from his mind as he quickly moved his hand to my forehead. After a moment or so he pulled out his wand and muttered a spell. "You have a fever, Johnathan." He informed me in a tone I couldn't quite recognize.

"I know, but it's nothing serious; just a minor case of the flu. I'll be fine after a good night's rest." I lied as best I could as I tried to think straight.

"Come along child," Severus ordered as he stalked out of the classroom, pulling me along. Feeling close to collapsing I just focused on putting one foot in front of the other and let him guide my through the halls and up staircases. I tripped and stumbled a few times but Sev always kept me on my feet.

Finally, we came to a stop and I realized that we were at the hospital wing when my god father opened the door and gently ushered me inside. Vaguely, I heard him call for Madam Pomfrey while he helped me over to the closest bed. Moments later the nurse bustled over to us. Most of what I could make out of their conversation was that they were both pretty alarmed at how high my temperature was. Madam Pomfrey had me drink a couple of potions.

"Johnathan, I need you to answer me honestly; how long have you been feeling ill?" the professor asked.

"A few days." I murmured sleepily.

"Why didn't you come see me when you noticed you were getting sick?" the matron asked as Severus took hold of my right hand and started undoing the bandages.

"No." I tried to pull my hand away from him but he didn't let go.

"It's alright, child, this won't take long." he started to rub a cool blueish balm on my injured hand as he waited for me to reply.

"Because at my other school, whenever I went to see the nurse when I wasn't feeling well or had an injury they would tell me to stop faking and get back to class. They never cared, so I eventually stopped going." Had I been thinking clearly and not feeling like hell, I would never have told him, or anyone, all that. Though I was starting to feel a bit better as the potions started to take effect.

"How could they do that? That is completely unprofessional!" Pomfrey exclaimed in anger.

"Johnathan, Madam Pomfrey would never turn away someone in need of medical help. Next time you fall ill I want you to come see her immediately, before you get this sick. I don't want to see you looking this miserable ever again. I don't think Lily or Sally would want you to have to go through this either." Severus explained softly as he rewrapped my injured hand with new bandages. I just nodded, not really having the energy to speak. My godfather assessed me carefully. "We'll talk about this more later. For now you should get some food and sleep. I'll come check up on you later." Again I just nodded, fighting to stay awake.

Before Severus could take more than a few steps towards the door it swung open and Alice stormed in sporting bright green hair and cradling her hand. Looking closer I could see blood on her knuckles I was just about to ask her what happened when Fred and George walked in behind her, Fred with a smirk and George with a broken and bleeding nose. Seeing that it wasn't hard to tell what had happened and I started laughing despite my exhaustion and my headache. Snape, Madam Pomfrey and Alice glared at me but the twins grinned and waved.

"This isn't funny, Percy." Alice told me sternly. "It really hurt when I punched him." At that I just started laughing harder and ended up falling backwards off the infirmary bed, enticing a few sighs and some laughter from the other occupants of the room. Then she noticed Professor Snape. "P-prof-fessor Snape, I-I'm…um," she started stuttering under his firm glare.

"If it helps-"

"Professor MaGonagall-"

"Already deducted points-"

"And gave us detentions."

"What's wrong with-"

"Our Mini Marauder?" The twins spoke up switching back and forth like they always do. Pomfrey healed Alice's hand while they spoke before turning to George, forcing him over to one the beds. That was when they seemed to notice that I was still on the floor.

"I think I need some help up." I managed to force out. My limbs refused to cooperate with me as I tried to get off the floor; I only managed to get into a seated position. My vison started going fuzzy from the stain of even doing that much. A moment later a pair of arms scooped me up off the ground and set me down on the hospital bed. "Thanks"

"No, problem lil brother." Fred said as he sat down next to me. "What's up?" I shook my head as I cuddled up next to him, grateful of his warmth as he pulled me into a hug. "Pomfrey, what's wrong with Percy?" I stopped paying attention as he exchanged words with the nurse. Mainly because it took too much effort to force my mind to pay attention. Soon I began to relax; Fred's heartbeat and the rumble in his chest as he spoke were oddly soothing. Before I knew it I was asleep. For the first time in weeks I didn't have a nightmare.

_A full moon lit up a small clearing. Trees surrounded it on all side and the long grass gently swayed in the breeze. There animals suddenly came running into the peaceful clearing; a stag, a large, black dog, and a werewolf (Annabeth would be so proud that I was able to tell what it was) playing what appeared to be a game of tag. They would tackle each other and chase one another around and generally having a good time. After watching them for a few minutes my dream changed._

_Four teenagers, about fifteen or sixteen years of age, were relaxing under a tree next to a lake. Just under the surface of the lake I could see a giant squid, lazily propelling itself along. Looking around I saw Hogwarts standing proudly in the sunlight. Laughter rang out and I turned back to see that one of them was now sporting hot pink hair._

"_James, that is so not cool!" the one with pink hair shouted at another one of the boys._

"_Then don't insult my Lilyflower." A boy with wildly messy black hair and glasses shot back. Before glasses boy could react pink hair guy pulled out his wand and turned his friend's hair green and silver. This elicited more laughter from the other two boys. "Seriously, Sirius! Slytherin colors?"_

"_Ok, you two. No need to kill each other." said one of the other boys, the one with light brown hair and amber eyes. He looked really familiar for some reason. "Sirius, you should know by now that James won't stand for his future wife to be insulted. James, you should know better than to mess with Sirius's hair."_

"_He turned my hair pink!"_

"_He insulted Lily!"_

"_I only said she was an annoying know-it-all."_

"_She is not annoying!" James shouted before thinking for a moment, mumbling, "At least not as much as she was."_

"_See, it's…oof," Sirius was cut off by James tackling him to the ground. They wrestled for a few minutes with the last guy of the group alternating between cheering for James or for Sirius._

"_Enough!" the familiar dude shouted and the other two immediately stopped their wrestling. "How am I supposed to concentrate on my book with the two of you causing such a racket?"_

"_You don't." the two who were fighting replied at the same time, both waring identical smirks. Amber eyes glared at the two for a moment before turning to the pages of the book in the boy's hands. It wasn't long before the book was snatched out of the boy's hands and James held it triumphantly above his head._

"_Potter!"_

"_You can read once the pranks are planned and the fun is had, Lupin. No ifs, ands or buts." The boy with glasses declared. The smile quickly fell off of his face as Lupin launched himself at the messy haired boy. He dropped the book in surprise and the two boys tumbled away from their friends. Soon enough James ended up getting thrown into the lake._

"_Do not touch my books!" Lupin shouted at his friend. A moment later all the boys were laughing again, looking like there was no place that they would rather be than in that moment._

First thing I noticed as I woke up was that I no longer felt like hell, which is good. Second thing I noticed was that I was warm, also good because I hate being cold. Thirdly, I was not alone…if you have never woken up right next to someone when you don't expect to…awkward. Though I can't complain about the warmth from having someone sleeping next to me. Looking up I saw a flash of red hair in the pre-dawn light and I realized it was one of the twins, Fred most likely as I vaguely recall falling asleep on him the night before. Doesn't really explain why he is still here and with his arms wrapped around me.

"Fred?" I spoke softly, giving him a shake. After shaking his shoulder for a minute or so I felt his arms tighten around me and he started to stir.

"Morning Mini Marauder." He greeted when he was awake enough to notice that I was awake as well. "How are you felling this morning?"

"Better, but um…why are you still here? Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, I just thought that Madam Pomfrey would have kicked you out or you would leave after I fell asleep."

"Well, I tried to lay you down on the bed so I could leave but you grabbed on to me and absolutely refused to let go and so here we are." Fred explained and he laughed a bit when I turned red in embarrassment. "Hey, don't worry about it. You were sick and you have a surprisingly strong grip for someone so scrawny. Besides, what are brothers for?"

"Pranking." I replied smoothly and he grinned at me. "Think you can get me into Gryffindor Tower? I have a great idea for my first prank."


	20. Chapter 20

"Yeah, I could do that for you, just this once. After that you are on your own for when you want to get into the Gryffindor common room or the other two."

"I can live with that." I agreed to what the redhead said. "Can we do it this morning?" He gave me a look that clearly said 'no way in Hades are you going anywhere right now'. "I'll be fine. It won't take long, I promise. We could get there and back before anyone else will be getting up. Please, Forge. I want to get proper revenge on Ron for sabotaging my potion."

"Percy, you need to rest. I'll take you another time."

"I can rest afterwards." I told him.

"Look, Percy, you were really sick last night. Your temperature was one-oh-five. You're not going anywhere until Madam Pomfrey says you can." He looked like he wanted to argue further but I played the puppy-pout card and he caved after a moment. "Fine, let's get going then, but I will be carrying you. I don't want the Madam to have my head if you collapse on the stairs and hurt yourself. Clear?"

"Crystal. I can't wait to see Ron's reaction." Fred rolled his eyes at me and chuckled as he got up. I shivered as the cold assaults me without the extra warmth provided by Fred. The redhead frowned when he saw me shiver. "What's wrong? Do you need me to get Madam Pomfrey?" He asked as he sat back down beside me.

"It's cold," I muttered as I curled up next to him, hoping that the chill of the morning air will dissipate with the motion. It only helped a little bit. "Don't like cold. Cold bad for getting out of bed." There was a moment of silence before Fred moved a bit and then muttered something under his breath. Warmth slowly encircled me and I started to relax as my shivering subsided. "I really need to learn how to do that spell. Thanks, Forge." I said as I stretched out and sat up, feeling rather drained from being sick.

"You're welcome, Mini Marauder." He smiled at me softly. "Are you sure about this, Percy? I don't want you straining yourself."

"Yes, I am sure about this. I'm sure that I will forget my wonderful idea for revenge. Then dear Ronald won't learn his lesson to not mess with me." I said as I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed. However, when my feet hit the floor I had to quickly pull them up as the stones were, well, stone cold. Chuckling filled the empty room and I turned my glare from the floor to the redhead next to me. "It's not funny."

"No, it's not but the look on your face was very amusing." He replied, so I glared at him some more while he just gave me another chuckle and handed me my sneakers. Within a couple of minutes we were heading through the halls towards the Gryffindor common room and Fred was giving me a piggyback ride. For a while neither of us said anything.

"Thank you, Fred, for staying with me last night." I told him softly. "It's not often that someone was there to do that for me."

"Really, no one? Didn't anyone from the family you were staying with take care of you when you were sick?" Forge asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"Mom was always working and I didn't want to worry her whenever she was home. Gabe was a lazy, world class jerk and didn't care about anything or anyone aside from his stupid poker games. So..." I trailed off, hating myself for talking about that monster of a man.

"I'm sorry, but while you're here you'll have George and I. Harry too, I'm sure, once he adjusts a bit more to having a brother. You'll both start doing brotherly things for each other. It's inevitable."

"Thanks Forge."

"Anytime, Mini Maraurder." He sent me a smile over his shoulder at me, which I returned. It was then that I noticed that someone was coming our way. I started to panic slightly until I saw that it was only George. He looked worried as he approached us.

"Hey, Gred, what's wrong?" I called to him, and Fred looked forward when I said his brother's nickname.

"That's what I was coming to ask the two of you. What are you doing out of the hospital wing, Percy? And Fred, what are you doing? Percy is recovering from being sick. He should not be out of the infirmary without Madam Pomfrey's permission. Turn around right now and take him back. Don't think I won't make you." George said, going all mother hen.

"But, Gred, I need to get revenge on Ron." I told him as soon as I could get a word in.

"You can do that when you're not recovering from being sick. You need to rest." He insisted, reminding me of my mom whenever I wouldn't eat my vegetables when I was little and only wanted more of her cookies instead. Hmm, I could do with some of those right about now. I love mom's blue cookies. Man I miss her and home. I should IM her, maybe Annabeth, too. I'll do that later when I can find the time and place for it.

"It will only take a few minutes, Gred, and if it will help our Mini Marauder's emotional state..." Fred was telling his brother who wasn't going to hear it.

"Right now it's his physical state I'm worried about. First we make sure he's healthy; then we can help him have his revenge."

"But Gred, Ron needs to be properly and thoroughly punished for sabotaging my potion. If I don't do it soon he'll start to think that he can do it again without any retaliation from me. When am I going to get an alibi as good as the one I have right now in the next few days?" I added to the argument. That brought George up short and he thought about it for a few moments before sighing.

"Alright, fine," he conceded, "you can get your revenge on Ron this morning but it had better only take a few minutes." I smiled at him and he followed us up the stairs. After several flights we came to a stop outside of a painting of a fat lady and Fred set me down and covered my ears. The portrait asked something and George replied but I couldn't hear what was actually said. As soon as the portrait swung open Fred uncovered my ears.

"Was that necessary?" I demanded of him.

"Yes because what kind of Gryffindors would we be if we gave you the password to access our common room. If you want the password you'll have to find it out by yourself." The redhead pointed out and gently pushed me towards the opening in the wall that George had already climbed through. I nearly faceplanted climbing out the other side but George caught me as I tumbled down.

"Thanks," I told him as I looked around the common room. Practically everything was red. The walls, floors, chairs and sofas. A fire crackled cheerful in the fireplace, making the room warm and inviting. Bookshelves and desks lined the walls, providing places to study and do homework. No view of the bottom of the Black Lake though, but that's their loss.

"Welcome to Gryffindor Tower." George said happily gesturing to the room.

"What do you think?" Fred asked me as he climbed out of the hole in the wall that we came through. "And don't lie, it's better than the Slytherin common room, isn't it?"

"It's warmer, that's for sure." I told them, wanting to go lay down by the fire and fall back asleep.

"Alright then, let's get down to business. What is your grand idea?" Forge asked me, drawing my attention away from the warm fire.

"Do either of you know how to make the color changing spell last for, say, about a week?" I asked them and they gave me looks that clearly said_ of course we do_.

"If you're thinking about turning his hair pink for the week you should know we've already done that to him." Gred stated in a tone that showed he expected better from me.

"Well, not pink. I was thinking something he would hate even more that the rest of us will get a good kick out of. So which way to Ron's dorm?"

"This way." Fred said, pointing towards the stairs to the left of us. I was able to make it most of the way to the third year boy's dorm without too much trouble and they told me which bed was their brother's. After they quickly and quietly explained how to make the color spell semi-permanent I pulled out my wand and set about changing the color of all of dear Ronald's things; his robes, clothing, bedding, the curtains, and yes, even his hair. When I was done I turned back towards the twins, who were looking at me in a new light.

"What?"

"I think Ron was right, Percy. You are evil." George said, starting to grin like a madman.

"It will be a pleasure to work with you." Fred added, matching his brother's grin. I couldn't help but smile back at them. That was about the time I noticed everything getting a bit fussy.

"I should probably get back to the hospital wing now. Everything is starting to get a bit blurry." I told them and they quickly herded me back down the stairs. Though on the bottom step I stepped on my shoelaces and promptly fell. Or rather, would have, if Fred hadn't of caught me in time. "Sorry," I grinned up at him sheepishly as he looked at me with concern. "Tripped on my shoelaces." Both he and George rolled their eyes at me. "You have good reflexes, Forge."

"Thanks, you really should be more careful, though. You're turning out to be quite clumsy." He replied, guiding me over to the portrait hole.

"I'm not clumsy." I protested as George opened the portrait and climbed through.

"Keep telling yourself that, Mini Marauder." We followed George out through to the other side of the portrait.

"Come on, Percy, hop on." George said, offering a piggyback ride for me. I sighed and did what he said without argument. Figured it was better to let them fuss over me after they let me have my revenge on their brother. For a few minutes I just listened to the redhead twins talk about some quidditch things that I didn't really understand or care about.

"You two remind me of some boys I go to camp with." I told them, interrupting something Fred was saying about bludgers or something like that. "They're also brothers. I think you guys would get along great with each other."

"How so?" Fred questioned, not looking angry or annoyed with my interruption.

"They like pranks as well. One time, they set off firecrackers in my cabin one night. Freaked me out at first until I realized what it was. They didn't even try to hide the fact that they were the ones to do it when morning came."

"And what did you do about it?" George asked, sounding interested.

"Threw their trunks into the la-" a yawn interrupted me mid-sentence, "lake the next night." They chuckled at that. "Got in trouble for that one. The Stolls also tried to dye my hair pink as revenge but for some reason their hair ended up pink rather than mine. Still don't know how that happened. Could that have been my magic reacting to me not wanting pink hair?"

"Might have been."

"Rather sounds like it."

"Bet that one caught them off guard." The twins took turns speaking, making my drowsy brain hurt.

"Yeah, it did. How does the accidental magic stuff work?"

"We'll tell you later, Percy, we're almost to the hospital wing," Fred replied.

"And you still have to get some rest." George added, shooting me a look over his shoulder.

"Ok, fine. I'll wait. Hate having to wait, though." I told them and they both grinned at me. "I should not have told you that." They just laughed. The rest of the way was spent in silence. When we reached the doors to the hospital wing Fred slowly opened the door and peaked in.

"Alright, the coast is clear." He declared after a moment and held the door open for George and I. After they made sure I was settled on my hospital bed they sat down on either side of me. "Need anything else, Percy?"

"Glass of water?" I asked him. In a moment he was handing me a full cup. "Thanks."

"Anytime," Forge said smiling at me softly. Across the room a door opened and closed. We looked over to see the matron making her way over to us. She was giving the twins a disapproving look. "Good morning, Madam. You're looking wonderful today."

"What are you two doing, waking up my patient? I told you last night that he needs his rest." She scolded them.

"It's alright, Madam Pomfrey, they didn't wake me." I told her, not wanting them to get into trouble. "I haven't been up long. I was thirsty and Fred got me some water. George came it just a few minutes ago. Please don't be mad at them."

"Alright, I'll let it slide this once but not again. Understood?" They nodded. "Well then go back to your common room for now. You can come visit Mr. Jackson later."

"Yes, Madam." The twins said together and said goodbye to me before retreating from the hospital wing.

"How are you feeling today Mr. Jackson? Any aches or pains? Headache?" The matron questioned as she cast some spells on me.

"Just feeling worn out and tired. Fred said my fever was one-oh-five last night. Was I really that bad?" I asked her, worrying about what Severus was going to say.

"Yes. If you told Severus or myself that you were sick when you were brought here yesterday after your potions incident then we would have known to treat the symptoms of the messed up potion when mingled with an illness. But since we didn't it was left to wreak havoc on your system. Raising your fever and increasing your pain. I dare say that if Severus hadn't of brought you in last night and let you go to your dorm to sleep, you would not have woken up."

"Great, so another lecture from Sev to look forward to." I sighed and looked out the window, watching as the sky lightened as the sun rose higher. "At least I wasn't the one to mess up my potion, so I have that going for me."

"Don't worry. I'll make sure he won't be lecturing you while you're in here. Just tell us these things in the future, alright?"

"Alright."

"Good, now if you wouldn't mind I need you to take a couple of potions then you can get a bit more sleep in before breakfast."

"Can I have bacon?" I asked her hopefully.

"We'll see." Was all she said, handing me the potions I need to drink and I made a face at them before downing them both.

"Why do potions have to taste so bad?"

"I have no idea," Madam Pomfrey answered with a smile and we both laughed.


	21. Chapter 21

**Oh my goodness, this is starting to get emotional. I had a hard time writing this chapter. Gah, what was I thinking. What really sucks is that I'm probably going to have to write even more emotionally charged chapters. I'm most likely going to hate myself at the end of this book for what I'm going to do to our favorite characters.**

**On a different note, I went back through my other chapters and fixed some of the spelling mistakes that I knew of. I also changed a few things that I didn't like very much. So hopefully it will flow better. Don't worry though, I didn't change very much of it. Hope you enjoy. Happy Halloween.**

**Draco's PoV.**

"Oh, come on, Percy, stop pouting. It's very unbecoming of a Slytherin." I told the raven haired boy next to me, who was staring dejectedly at his lunch.

"I'm not pouting." He mumbled, not looking at me or anywhere else for that matter.

"Yes you are." Blaise said, barely looking up from his lunch. Percy gave him a half-hearted glare. "You're not upset about us making you get up early to watch quidditch tryouts are you?"

"No, it's not that." He said softly, picking at a hole on his t-shirt sleeve absentmindedly. Once again Percy was wearing his muggle clothing and he was getting dirty looks for it from most of the other Slytherins. Honestly, will he never learn to blend in?

"Then what is it?" Pansy demanded sharply, losing her patience. Percy flinched at her voice but stayed silent. "What's wrong, Percy? Why aren't you eating?" She asked, more calmly. Apparently she also noticed the flinch.

"I'm not hungry." The boy in question mumbled.

"I would believe that if you hadn't been complaining all morning about missing breakfast." Theodore said, finally joining the conversation. "So, are you going to tell us what has you upset or are we going to have to guess?" Percy didn't respond, just pushed his plate away and put his head down on the table. "Ron's not giving you a hard time is he? I mean, Professor Snape said so himself that you were in the hospital wing when he got pranked and Madam Pomfrey also said that you were in no condition to have left the hospital wing to pull that prank. I don't know why he keeps insisting that it was you. Besides, we haven't learned how to do long lasting color changing charms, so you definitely wouldn't know...no offense."

"None taken." Percy said with a chuckle. The reminder of the prank made us all smile and I couldn't help but remember that morning.

_Flashback_

_It was after Percy's potion blew up on him. Percy said that it was Ron's fault that it happened and the redhead didn't even deny it. But that night Percy hadn't come to dinner after his detention for punching Weasley and he wasn't in the dorm either. Morning came and still no Percy. At breakfast I asked my godfather, Professor Snape, if he knew anything._

_"Mr. Jackson is currently in the hospital wing being treated for delayed effects from his potion yesterday. He will be released either tonight or tomorrow morning depending how how well he recovers." Snaps informed me. "Now go eat your breakfast and don't be late for your first class if you decide to visit him before hand."_

_"Yes, Professor Snape. Thank you for telling me about Percy." I told him and he nodded at me and I left the staff table and headed over to my friends at the Slytherin table._

_"Well, what did he say?" Pansy asked worryingly._

_"Percy's in the hospital wing. Apparently he is still experiencing some effects from his potion." I answered her. They all looked even more worried at that answer though._

_"He'll be alright, won't he?" Blaise inquired, looking as if he was afraid of what the answer might be._

_"Yes, he will be alright. Professor Snape said that he is going to be released tonight or tomorrow." We sat in silence for a while. It seemed too quiet without our green eyed friend either grumbling about it being too early to be up or cracking jokes to make us laugh._

_"I kind of feel bad for him. He's only been here a few weeks and he's already had to spend so much time in the hospital wing." Theodore said after a while. "I hope the rest of the year goes better for him." I was just about to say something when there was shouting coming from the Entrance Hall. Everyone in the Great Hall turned towards the doors as the yelling got louder. In came the weasel followed by Potter and Granger. I had to do a double take to make sure I wasn't seeing things. There stood Ronald Weasley, biggest Slytherin hater at Hogwarts, wearing Slytherin colours. His robes were striped green and silver as was his hair. The red of his face clashed horribly with the green he was sporting._

_"Ron, please calm down." Granger was saying to him. "You don't know-"_

_"No, Hermione, I know it was him who did this. I'm not going to let him get away with it." Weasley practically yelled._

_"Oh, come on Ron. How could my brother have gotten into the common room? He doesn't even know where it is." Potter pointed out to his friend sounding annoyed. I noticed, however that his mouth was twitching and a few times it looked like he was trying to not smile. At that I lost it and started laughing. Pretty soon the whole of the students were laughing and Weasley turned a darker shade of red._

_"What is going on here?" Professor MaGonagall demanded, marching over to the three Gryffindors._

_"Jonhathan Potter turned everything I own green and silver. Everything!" Ronald shouted._

_"You don't know if it was him." Hermione tried to reason with the angry redhead again but he wouldn't have it. The two friends and Professor McGonagall argued about it for a few minutes until Professor Snaps made his way over and settled the matter, telling them why it couldn't have been Percy who pranked him. I couldn't help chuckling as the Gryffindor boy marched angrily over to his house's table when McGonagall couldn't change his hair or robes back to their normal colour._

_End flashback_

"Percy, if Weasley is...well, we'll take care of him for you if you want. All you need to do is tell us." Pansy told him kindly.

"So far he's been leaving me alone, but I will let you know if that changes." He replied with a smile, but it faded away after a few seconds. "I miss my mom and friends." I had to strain my ears so I could hear what he said because he spoke that last part so quietly.

"Oh, Percy, I-"

"I thought your mom was dead." Crabb said, interrupting whatever Pansy was about to say. She whacked the back of his head for that.

"Watch what you say, Vincent. He is already in a bad enough mood without you being so insensitive." Pansy reprimanded him before turning back to Percy. "It's normal to miss your friends and family, Percy. That's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone here has felt that way before, even if they don't admit it."

"Yeah but you guys aren't an entire ocean away from your friends and family." Percy grumbled.

"Wait. You're not from the British Isles?" Blaise inquired, looking interested.

"Nope. I grew up in America. Manhattan, New York to be exact." He gave our dark skinned friend a slight smile. "Yes, Crabb, my mother Lily Potter is dead. But my mom, Sally Jackson, is still very much alive and I miss her." His smile faded away again as he spoke. "Sorry, I think I need some time alone." Percy said softly as he stood up. I was thinking about following him as he left but then I saw Potter hurrying across the Great Hall, making his way over to Percy. Well, they could use some time to get to know each other better. Looking over at the Gryffindor table I couldn't help but notice Weasley, still with green and silver robes and hair, glaring at the entrance where the two brothers walked out.

"Who's up for a little bit of fun with Weasley?" I asked my fellow Slytherin third years.

* * *

**Percy's PoV.**

As I made my way out of the Great Hall I heard footsteps coming my way.

"Leave me alone." I said as they got closer to me.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Harry's voice sounded as he came up beside me. "The other Slytherins aren't giving you any trouble are they?" I looked at him and saw worry etched on his face.

"No," I answered him, "they're not giving me any problems." I turned towards the dungeons hoping that Harry would let me be, but no he just followed me down the stone steps.

"Well then, what's wrong?" He asked again.

"I just want to be alone right now, alright?" A hand grabbed my arm and jerked me to a stop. I sent him a warning glare and he let go of me and stepped away.

"Please, Percy, talk to me. If something is wrong or if someone is giving you a hard time, then-"

"Harry, I'm a New Yorker. If someone was giving me a hard time I'd give them an even harder time, because we don't take anything from anyone." I told him evenly.

"Then why do you look so sad?" He implored and I could see the anxiety, worry, and fear in his eyes.

"Is there a way to send mail the muggle way from here?" I asked him, changing the subject.

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure. I could ask Hermione for you. She might know something about that or you can ask a teacher. They would know for sure. But, why not just use an owl to send your letters?" He replied, sounding confused at my question.

"I want to write to my mom and friends and I don't want to make the stupid birds fly across an ocean when there might be another, easier, way to send letters back and forth." I told him glaring at the wall.

"Still having problems with the owls then?" He smirked at me and I glared at him.

"It's not funny." I gritted my teeth in annoyance as my brother started laughing. "How would you feel if a bunch of birds tried clawing your face off while you try to eat?" Ever since I found out, quite unpleasantly, that the owls bring the post in the mornings at breakfast I had taken to either leaving the Great Hall or hiding under the table until the owls cleared out, which ever I had time for. Their talons hurt when they're scratching at exposed skin.

"Sorry. You're right. It's not funny." His chuckling came to a stop and he turned serious again. "But you miss your friends in New York. Is that the reason you're upset?"

"Yeah," I leaned against the wall next to me and slid down to the floor. "It's just...all of this is so new and...I didn't really get any warning. Sev just showed up, explained the basics, told me a little bit about our mother and James then pretty much threw me into this mess. I'm still trying to adjust to this part of my crazy messed up life." Though compared to how I was introduced to my godly side, this wasn't actually that bad. Should probably still wait to tell Harry about that until we are more comfortable with each other.

"Yeah, Snape's a git. I guess it also doesn't help that your thousands of miles away from where you grew up." Harry sighed and sat down next to me. "I'm sorry for Ron blaming you for pranking him. There's no way you could have gotten the password to access our common room and the semi-permanent colour changing spells aren't taught to us until sixth year charms. Hermione looked it up to show Ron that it couldn't have been you." He replied to my questioning look. "Well, Ron did say that Fred and George used that spell on him before and they're only fifth years, but I mean...you're still learning the basics to catch up to the rest of us third years. How could you do a sixth year level spell?"

"Funny, Theodore said pretty much the same thing." I smiled at him and for a moment he looked confused.

"He's a Slytherin I'm guessing." At my nod he pulled a face. "Great, just what I always wanted; to think like a snake."

"Hey!"

"I'm just teasing...mostly. I haven't had much interaction with the other Slytherin third years. Mainly it has been Draco that we've had problems with. Is he nice?"

"Yeah, so long as you don't get on his bad side. Blaise is more easy going then the rest so I can get along with him pretty well. Crabb and Goyle are a bit slow. Draco is a work in progress."

"The day when you get him to stop being such a prick is the day Voldemort stops trying to kill me." Harry scoffed, glaring at the wall opposite of us.

"You doubt my abilities?" I looked at him with mock hurt. "Why don't you just rip out my heart and feed it to the wolves?"

"What, no. I didn't mean..." He said starting to panic before realizing what I was doing. "Oh, ha, ha, Percy. Very funny." I laughed as he gave me a light shove. "Prat." We both grinned at each other. "Come on, I want to show you something." My brother suddenly jumped to his feet and pulled me off the floor. He began to drag me back up the stairs. We were just passed the Entrance Hall when I was able to pull my arm out of his grasp. As soon as I was free of him he stopped and looked back at me. "What's up?"

"You have to ask?" I growled at him. A look of horrified realization crossed his face.

"Merlin, Percy, I'm so sorry. I completely forgot that you don't like being touched. Bloody hell, I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He looked so ashamed of himself that I couldn't stay angry at him.

"It's ok, Harry, just don't do it again. Please don't beat yourself up over it. I can't really expect you to remember everything about me. Harry it's-"

"No it's not alright. Professor Lupin told me that you might have been abused before you came here and that was the reason you reacted to the dementors the way you did." He said, sounding furious. Though whether it was at himself, me, or my past I wasn't sure. I pulled him into a hug on instinct. "It's not...I don't...I'm sorry." He mumbled into my shoulder.

"It's not your fault. That monster is gone and I'd rather not dwell on what he did to me, Harry. I'll be ok...in time, but please don't beat yourself up about it. Please." Slowly he nodded and pulled away from me.

"Sorry, Professor Lupin said not to bring up the subject until I got to know you better. There's that advice thrown out the window. Can you at least tell me what happened to him. I don't think I can let it go, for the moment, without knowing that."

"He disappeared over the summer while I was at camp. Mom filed a report but either of us really want him back in our lives." He gave me an odd look but nodded all the same. "So you said you wanted to show me something." I reminded him with a small smile.

"Right, yeah...um, this way." He said pointing up the stairs. We walked for a while in silence and I could tell that my brother was still troubled. Honestly, I would be to if he admitted to being abused. Hopefully he'll leave it be for a while because it was bad enough living with the creep that ruined my childhood. Reliving it because of the dememtor on the train also sucked. It was going to be a while before I will be able to talk about what happened to me. However I was pulled out of my musings when one of the stairs swallowed my foot.

"What the Hades?!" I shouted and Harry laughed when he turned and saw my predicament. "I'm really beginning to think that a prankster designed this place."

"I don't know how the trick steps came to be. I just know that you have to watch out for them. Hermione could tell you who built the school as she has read _Hogwarts, A History_ and is probably the only person in the school that has." Harry replied, still chuckling as he tried to pull me out of the step. "This is easier with two people."

"Would you like some help?" A voice came from behind us and my face turned red in embarrassment when I saw Professor Lupin coming up the stairs behind us.

"Yes please." I said as I started to sink farther into the trick step. Lupin smiled and pulled me out of the stairs with ease before setting me back down. "Thanks, Professor." I smiled at him. He nodded and started to walk away. "Hey, Professor Lupin, can I ask you something?"

"You just did." He said with a smile as he turned back towards us. "But you can ask another question."

"How did you know about...well...my...um, past?" I asked hesitantly, hoping that he would understand without me having to actually say it.

"One of my best friends was abused by his family. He had to run away to avoid being killed by them. That was just before our fifth year here at Hogwarts." Professor Lupin's expression turned sad as he spoke.

"Oh, I'm sorry about your friend, but at least he got away from them, right?" I said to him, feeling awful that I had asked.

"Yes, he did. I cannot force you to get help Johnathan. Nor can I help you without you asking me to. So, for your sake be careful and get the help you need before it's too late." The older man said, sounding sad and slightly desperate.

"Thank you." I told him softly and he nodded and left.

"You'll get help, won't you?" Harry asked as soon as we were alone.

"I-i don't know."

"But-"

"Harry, please." He looked like he wanted to argue but apparently decide against it which I was grateful for.

"Come on, we're almost there." He said instead. A few more flights of stairs and hallways with we came to the portrait of the fat lady in the pink dress. "Wait here a moment would you. I not supposed to let you know the password." He gave me a sheepish grin and I nodded. He ran the last twenty feet to the portrait hole and gave her the password. When the painting swung open he beckoned me forward and I followed him inside. The Gryffindor common room looked the same as when the twins brought me here.

"Um, am I supposed to be in here?" I asked him as I didn't want to get my brother or myself in trouble unnecessarily or inadvertently.

"Probably not. My dorm is up these stairs." He replied, leading the way up to the third year boy's dorm. As soon as he was through the door he jogged over to one of the trunks and started rifling through it.

"So what are you looking for?" I asked as I sat down on what I assumed was his bed. After a few minutes he triumphantly held up a leather bound book and came to sit down next to me. He handed the book to me.

"Open it." He encouraged me when I just stared at it. Hesitantly, I opened it to the first page and was greeted with the sight of a moving photo of a messy haired man that looked a lot like Harry and a beautiful woman with red hair. They were smiling and waving at the camera. "Those are our parents, James and Lily. My first year here, when Hagrid found out that I didn't know what my parents looked like he messaged their friends for some pictures of them. He put together this photo album for me." I couldn't say anything as I stared at the picture of my mother smiling at James; it reminded me of how my mom would smile at me. Like I was the best thing to ever happen to her. Would Lily have still smiled at me like my mom does even after all the stuff I've gotten up to throughout the years? However, I was pulled from my thoughts as a ruckus came from the common room and the door to the dorm opened and the other third year boys came in. They stopped when they saw my though.

"What are you doing here?" Dean, I think, demanded.

"I bought him up here Dean." Harry answered him and he looked slightly annoyed.

"Oh, hey, Harry. You might want to get down to the hospital wing." Neville said, looking nervous. "Ron and Draco got into a really bad fight."

"WHAT?" Both me and Harry shouted.

"Draco was apparently still angry that Ron was still blaming you for pranking him. McGonagall is furious with the both of them." The shy boy explained a little bit more about what happened.

"Stubborn, good for nothing Slytherin." I said as I fell back on Harry's bed. "I told him not to start anything over that."

"Did you really think that would work?" Harry asked me with a roll of his eyes.

"No. So are you going to yell at them first or do I get to?" I asked him and he laughed.

"Let's at least see how bad the damage is first. Then we'll get to the yelling. Deal?"

"Fair enough. You're leading the way through because I have no idea how to get to the hospital wing from here." I answered him as we made our way back to the portrait hole.


End file.
